LONDON, KINGSTON, and SCARBOROUGH, Ontario, RICHMOND, BC, April 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Four rallies in the past weeks since the March for Marriage on parliament hill, saw almost 7,000 people in total coming out to defend marriage.
A rally in London, Ontario’s Victoria Park drew 5,000 people April 17 – organizers said it was “the largest political rally ever held in the city.” Those in attendance heard speeches from local Liberal MP Pat O’Brien, Islam Imam Dr. Munir El-Kassem, the Evangelical Fellowship’s Janet Buckingham, Defend Marriage’s Dr. Charles McVety and Citizen Impact of Canada President Jack Baribeau.
While convincing Members of Parliament to vote against Paul Martin’s anti-marriage Bill C-38 continues to be its primary goal, Defend Marriage is now also moving towards a two-pronged campaign of also winning the marriage vote in the next general election, their website explained.
“Nomination battles are heating up all across Canada,” said Roy Beyer, the Operations Director of the Defend Marriage Trust . “Those that support one man one woman marriage need to join a political party and be prepared to vote for pro-marriage candidates at the nomination level.”
Rallies in Kingston drew 400, while another in Scarborough, Ontario on the same day, April 17, drew over 500. Scarborough Liberal MPs Tom Wappel, John Cannis, Derek Lee, Dan McTeague and Jim Karygiannis spoke strongly in defence of traditional marriage along with a past Conservative candidate and local religious leaders of Christian and non-Christian denominations. Participants reported being astonished by the overwhelmingly positive and loud support expressed by a large volume of passersby who saw the pro-marriage signs as they drove by the rally. The Scarborough rally was organized by the local Canadians for the Defence of Marriage and the Family organization.
Campaign Life Coalition BC reported over 1200 participants at the rally in Richmond on April 23.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
15-20,000 Attend March for Traditional Marriage on Parliament Hill – Media Claim Only 4,000
Critical Time for Pro-Life and Pro-Marriage Canadians to Renew Political Party Memberships
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