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Throwing down the gauntlet
 | | Pro-life activist Stephanie Gray (left) has challenged pro-choice MP Hedy Fry to a debate. |
Stephanie Gray, executive director of the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform, has offered to debate Liberal Member of Parliament Hedy Fry on the topic of abortion. The offer comes in response to a May 3 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation report quoting Fry as saying that she is "set to debate anyone on the topic" -- but that it is unnecessary, "because the question in Canada is settled." Gray noted that the topic is worth discussing since one in four pregnancies in Canada ends in abortion -- and Canadian taxpayers pay for those abortions. She also noted that "There's a growing movement of young people who . . . weren't old enough to vote when abortion was debated in the 1980s, and are demanding that their voice be heard now." She added, "The fact that abortion advocates . . . feel it is necessary to ban, censor or even threaten with arrest, students [who oppose abortion] tells me that the debate is far from finished." An interesting twist is that Gray's mother was a patient of Dr. Fry when she was pregnant with Stephanie.
Campus point / counterpoint
The University of Calgary has found eight members of the Campus Pro-Life (CPL) student group guilty of violating the university's Non-Academic Misconduct Policy; the students refused a campus security officer's order to turn their pro-life display inward so it could not be seen by passersby. The students were told further violations would "result in more severe sanctions." CPL president Alanna Campbell stated: "We are going to challenge this verdict . . . I'd rather be expelled as a principled person than graduate a coward." Meanwhile, Youth Protecting Youth (YPY), the pro-life club at the University of Victoria (UVic), has filed a petition in the B.C. Supreme Court against the UVic Students' Society (UVSS). They argue the UVSS has acted unlawfully by denying YPY club funding, refusing to ratify YPY as an official club, and amending its Clubs Policy to exclude pro-life advocacy. The YPY said that the university community "is the very place where controversial topics should be discussed."
To summit up
About 80 religious leaders from around the world will gather in Winnipeg June 21- 23. The World Religions Summit will "shadow" the summit of the government leaders of the G8/G20 nations, who will meet shortly afterward in Ontario. The religious leaders will urge the government leaders to support the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and cut global poverty in half by 2015. The goals were ratified by the 192 member states of the United Nations ten years ago, but the G8 nations are behind in providing the assistance they promised in order to meet those goals. This will be the first time Canada has hosted the World Religions Summit, which grew out of an interdenominational Christian meeting around the 2005 G8 summit in the United Kingdom. The Summit now also includes Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Aboriginal, Hindu, Sikh, Baha'i and Shintoist faith leaders. Speakers at the event will include Canadian senator Romeo Dallaire, whose warning about the impending Rwandan genocide was ignored; Jim Wallis of the American Christian social justice magazine Sojourners; Andre Karamaga, president of the All Africa Conference of Churches; Shaban Mubaje, grand mufti of Uganda; and John McArthur, CEO of Millennium Promise.
A poor report
Citizens for Public Justice has released a research paper entitled 'Bearing the Brunt: How the 2008-2009 Recession Created Poverty for Canadian Families.' The paper states that the poverty rate in Canada rose to 11.7 percent of the population in 2009; the child poverty rate likely rose to at least 12 percent; a quarter of workers making $10 an hour or less lost their jobs; and social assistance caseloads have continued to rise across the country. Further, the recession has increased the proportion of precarious work, as part-time jobs replaced full-time jobs and temporary jobs replaced permanent positions. Additionally, food prices rose 4.9 percent and average rent 2.3 percent; the number of food bank users rose 18 percent in 2009; average debt per household grew 5.7 percent; and bankruptcies increased 36.4 percent.
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Junos put out the welcome Matt
Matt Brouwer's Where's Our Revolution (Black Shoe/Fontana North) has won the 2010 Juno award for Contemporary Christian/Gospel Album of the Year. This is Brouwer's third album. He got his start in music while studying at Prairie Bible College in Alberta, but later interrupted his music career to do mission work in Venezuela, Poland, Jamaica and Guatemala. He has previously won two GMA Canada Covenant Awards and two Vibe (Canadian People's Choice) awards. The other nominees for the Gospel Album award were FM Static's Dear Diary, Janelle's What I Gotta Say, Steve Bell's Devotion and Thousand Foot Krutch's Welcome To The Masquerade.
SoulChat got your tongue?
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association of Canada (BGEAC) has won Anvil awards for two television ads that encourage people to go to its SoulChat.ca website. The humorous commercials feature know-it-all people who find themselves at a loss for words when colleagues or friends seek spiritual advice. SoulChat uses blogs, videos and articles to encourage Canadians to discuss faith issues and "discover the Good News of Jesus Christ." The ads, two of three created by the Zero Gravity ad agency for the BGEAC, received the awards in early May at the annual Calgary Ad Rodeo Industry Gala.
Home-grown porn
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Vice-President Don Hutchinson has told CanWest News Media that Christians are appalled the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has approved a Canadian pornography channel. The channel, called Vanessa, will begin airing in French October 28 and in English in 2011. American-based X-rated cable and satellite channels are available in Canada, but the new license requires Vanessa to have 20 percent Canadian programming, effectively encouraging the development of a Canadian pornography industry. Hutchinson cited studies showing pornography is linked to organized crime, prostitution and human trafficking. He added that he hoped the new channel won't get enough subscribers and "will die a natural death."
Encourage meant
Majed El Shafie of One Free World International, a Christian ministry to persecuted Christians, is planning a trip to Afghanistan called Operation Horizon of Hope. As on a previous visit three years ago, he will be inviting members of the Canadian Parliament to accompany him. The purpose of the visit is to encourage Canadian, American and NATO soldiers. The delegation will also meet with Afghan officials to encourage progress in the area of human rights.
The right to a conscience
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) legal counsel Faye Sonier will present legal arguments to the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal May 13-14. The Justice Minister of Saskatchewan has asked the court for an opinion on potential legislation which would permit marriage commissioners to decline performing same-sex marriages if it is contrary to their religious beliefs. The EFC has been granted intervenor status in favour of the legislation. The Christian Legal Fellowship and the Canadian Fellowship of Churches and Ministers have also been given intervenor status. The EFC says the case will set an important precedent on whether "the right to freedom of conscience and religion also applies to an employee in a public role."
May 13/2010
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