Taylor Ellington was positioned at defence during the season’s opener last year, on the Everett Silvertips home ice in the Comcast Arena. Out of the corner of his eye, amid the fireworks and light show, Ellington spied a wheelchair near the Zamboni entrance — an unusual on-ice sight. As his eyes adjusted, he was surprised […]
News round-up: November 15, 2007
Stories about CBC’s documentary on Falun Gong: CBC pulls film after calls from Chinese embassy The CBC postponed the airing of a documentary about the Falun Gong spiritual movement after receiving calls from the Chinese embassy expressing concern about the film’s subject matter. Beyond the Red Wall: The Persecution of the Falun Gong was scheduled […]
Union official files complaint claiming religious discrimination
Ottawa — The president of an Ottawa Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) local has filed a human rights complaint against both his union and his employer on religious freedom grounds. Treasury Board employee David MacDonald, who works for Industry Canada, claims he has been “discriminated against and harassed based on my religious beliefs.” As a Catholic, MacDonald […]
Comment: Murdered women not wastes of human beings
As the trial of alleged serial killer Robert Pickton winds down in BC, CC.com presents the perspective of Trisha Baptie, a former sex trade worker who once worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and counted some of the murder victims among her friends. This article was first published by the Orato Media Corporation in January 2007. I HAVE managed to […]
Key writers rediscover Christmas
For many people, Christmas feels like a time of chaos, commercialism and shallow sentimentality instead of the rich spirituality it’s supposed to represent. Vancouver resident Greg Pennoyer is launching a book in several cities this month, which aims to cut through the Christmas clutter. God with Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas is a sumptuously illustrated new […]
News round-up: November 8, 2007
Note: Registration or subscription to the host news sites may be required to read some of the stories linked here. Stories about Jean Vanier: Vanier: ‘Close to a saint’ The founder of L’Arche has spent nearly a lifetime championing the severely disabled. National Post, November 3 Spiritual pedigree linked to Therese Jean Vanier was blessed […]
OttawaWatch: A Rocha’s pebble creates a ripple
Markku Kostamo dropped into Ottawa a few weeks ago, to raise awareness in this very political community, for the work of A Rocha. Rocha, a Portuguese word meaning “rock”, became the moniker for A Rocha a quarter-century ago, when a Brit named Peter Harris founded a field study centre known as Cruzinha in that Mediterranean nation. […]
To veil or not to veil
A federal bill requiring all voters — including Muslim women — to uncover their faces before they vote is a lot of hype over nothing, and may reflect an increasingly bigoted approach to visible signs of religious faith, according to one prominent Muslim. Sameer Zuberi, a spokesman for the Canadian branch of the Council on American-Islamic […]
OttawaWatch: The senator’s quiet benediction
The occasion was the first-ever Inter-faith Prayer Breakfast on Parliament Hill. It drew about 100 people to the parliamentary dining room, about one-third of them members of parliament. While the event was considered an unqualified success by its organizers, it needs to be said, in context, that it drew only about one-fifth of the attendance […]
Quebec struggles with accommodation of minorities
A widespread debate on the “reasonable accommodation” of minorities has convulsed Quebec society and could set precedents that impact all of Canada. Some observers have even suggested the debate could lead to “serious persecution of minorities,” particularly religious minorities. The debate began with a series of somewhat minor incidents over the past two years. A […]