Former gay PQ head quits politics

MONTREAL – Former Parti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair, the first open homosexual to be chosen leader of a major party, has announced he will leave politics. His party fell to third, behind the Liberal Party of Quebec and Action Democratique in March, and he subsequently was forced from the party’s leadership. Few pundits blamed his sexual orientation (or his admitted cocaine use during a previous tenure as a cabinet minister in the government of Bernard Landy), but Campagne Quebec Vie president Luc Gagnon told The Interim that, despite the claim the province is socially more liberal, many Quebeckers were uncomfortable with an openly homosexual man seeking the premiership.

Ottawa Anglicans back gay ‘blessings’

OTTAWA – By a vote of 177-97, delegates at the annual synod of the Ottawa diocese of the Anglican Church of Canada, which covers eastern Ontario and western Quebec, approved same-sex “marriage” blessings. The synod, meeting in Cornwall, asked Bishop John Chapman to permit clergy “whose conscience permits” to bless such unions. Retired Newfoundland bishop and Anglican Network of Canada moderator Donald Harvey told the Toronto Star, “It goes to the very opposite direction to what the international church is going.”

Ron Chaplin, a warden with St. John the Evangelist Church in Ottawa, introduced the contentious motion and said he did not intend to inflame the debate within the Anglican communion with his actions, although he also said he expects to see other dioceses discuss similar proposals. The Anglican Network has said the move makes it more likely they will join forces with more conservative U.S. Episcopalian churches to create a more theologically orthodox church.

Murder-suicide sparks media to start mercy-killing debate

TORONTO – Sarah Stein, an 84-year-old woman bound to a wheelchair 15 years after suffering a stroke, was shot and killed by her son, Percy, 66, who proceeded to kill himself. He was her primary caregiver and claimed in his suicide note that she did not want to live without him. He had recently been diagnosed with terminal stomach cancer. In one of his suicide notes, Percy Stein said, “I feel it is time to be with God” and apologized “for the sins we have committed in our lives,” referencing both himself and his murdered mother.

Despite the media’s general reluctance to cover suicides in any detail for fear of glamourizing such actions, in this case, journalists used the story to highlight the causes of both euthanasia and the future challenges an aging population presents to the country. The Toronto Star pointed out that a growing number of seniors are being taken care of by their adult children and that when their children feel vulnerable or face their own illnesses, the situation for their parents can become perilous, especially considering people’s fears over nursing homes.

Drug strategy unveiled

WINNIPEG – The federal Conservative government announced it will introduce legislation to tackle illegal drug use, including mandatory minimum prison sentences for criminals convicted of serious drug charges. Prime Minister Stephen Harper noted that “currently, there are no minimum prison sentences for producing and trafficking dangerous drugs like methamphetamines and cocaine.” Harper noted drug use takes a toll on the country’s healthcare system and fuels other crime. He said, “Narcotics destroy lives. They rob young people of their futures, they tear families apart, they make our streets less safe and they lay waste to our communities.”

Two-thirds of the $64 million anti-drug program will go to prevention and treatment programs, including a national public awareness program aimed at youth. Liberal MP Keith Martin and NDP MP Libby Davies both said the government should do more to support so-called harm reduction programs, such as Vancouver’s InSite safe injection project, which recently got a reprieve when Ottawa announced funding would be extended through June. Harper called harm reduction programs a “second-best strategy at best.”

Left-leaning pols skip prayer breakfast

WINNIPEG – Liberal and NDP MPPs refused to attend the first Manitoba Prayer Breakfast, a Christian event modeled on similar prayer breakfasts in Ottawa and other Canadian and U.S. cities. Like the event in the nation’s capital, it is a non-partisan Christian prayer breakfast, but Liberal MP Anita Neville (Winnipeg South-Centre) and NDP MP Pat Martin (Winnipeg Centre) both refused to attend the event, which sold 500 tickets to city businessmen, politicians and religious leaders. Martin said he would attend an interfaith breakfast, but not an ecumenical Christian prayer event. “I’m not comfortable with that.” Neville said, complaining that it was “Christian-driven,” and adding that “in this day and age, given the diversity, not only among our politicians but among our population, it should be” an interfaith event. She called the breakfast “exclusive, not inclusive.” Helen Toews, provincial director of Nation at Prayer, said the breakfast, while Christian, is welcoming of other religions.

Mayor criticized for perceived anti-gay remark

CALGARY – Mayor Dave Bronconnier, who won re-election, faced the wrath of gay rights activists after indicating he did not support Tourism Calgary’s decision to promote the city as a destination for homosexuals. During a public debate, and in response to a question from a member of the audience, Bronconnier said about the gay lifestyle, “That’s not something I can condone,” although he added that the decision is Tourism Calgary’s and not his. After homosexuals chastized the mayor for calling homosexuality a lifestyle and implying it is a choice, Bronconnier backtracked, saying that what he could not condone was the question being asked, not the gay lifestyle.

The Rock addresses its population loss

ST. JOHN’S – Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams and his Progressive Conservative party have won re-election, taking 43 of 48 seats. The issue of the province’s depopulation came up during the campaign, when Williams announced that parents would receive a $1,000 bonus for each child they have or adopt in an effort to arrest the sagging birthrate. In 1983, there were nearly 9,000 babies born in the province, compared to just 4,488 in 2004. Willaims said, “The province cannot afford to have its population shrink” and that the goal of the $4.5 million program, which will also include expanded parental leave supplements, streamlining the adoption process and more prenatal care, is to have a “net gain in our population.”

Newfoundland’s Right to Life Association applauded the moves as steps in the right direction, but added that unless something is done to reverse the 850-plus abortions committed in the province each year, the economic and social repercussions of population decline will persist.

Liberals criticize Tories over pro-life judge

OTTAWA – The federal Conservative government has appointed former PC MP Lawrence O’Neil to the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. O’Neil, who is pro-life, and the government faced vitriolic attacks from Liberals who said the appointment is proof that Stephen Harper harbours a hidden agenda designed to implement “an extreme, right-wing agenda … by stealth.” In 1987, O’Neil, a former legal aid lawyer, said in the House of Commons that, “Unborn children across this country are being suctioned from the womb by women who want to put an end to their pregnancy. Those children are being dismembered.” He criticized the notion that women have an unfettered right to control their bodies when it conflicts with the rights of the child. Also, in 1985, O’Neil introduced a bill to amend the Criminal Code to require that every unborn child be represented by legal counsel at therapeutic abortion committees across the country.

Liberal MP and justice critic Marlene Jennings called O’Neil’s judgeship a “scary” development that “should frighten the overwhelming majority of women in Canada … It’s an affront and an attack on our equality rights.” Jennings accused the Conservatives of packing the courts with social conservatives, although O’Neil is only the third high-profile pro-life lawyer appointed to the bench. A spokesman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said that like each of the 118 judicial appointments the government has made since February 2006, O’Neil is highly qualified.

Catholic school board nixes HPV vaccine

SAULT STE. MARIE – The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board has rejected a proposal to administer Gardasil, a vaccine for the sexually transmitted disease HPV, on school property. Trustees voted 5-4 to reject a motion by administration to allow local health officials to inject the controversial vaccine into girls as young as 12. Although serious concerns have been raised about Gardasil – it is linked to 11 deaths and more than 3,000 other “adverse” affects --  the Catholic trustees rejected the STD vaccine on moral grounds, saying that sexually transmitted diseases are best prevented by abstinence. 

Every other Ontario Catholic school board to consider issue, beginning with the Halton Catholic School Board, has accepted the controversial vaccine. Last month, the Huron-Superior board put off a decision so it could be discussed further. Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board trustee Grace Tridico said, “When someone says one thing and does another, you’re called a hypocrite. Teaching abstinence and supporting the HPV vaccine clinics, for me, is a clear case of hypocrisy.” The board of public health lashed out at the decision, saying the Catholic board didn’t support the vaccine because it didn’t care about the health of girls.

B.C. bubble zone challenged

VANCOUVER – The B.C. Court of Appeal has heard arguments by the Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance challenging the provincial bubble zone law, which restricts the free speech rights of pro-lifers by prohibiting demonstrations immediately outside abortion facilities. This action arose from Donald Spratt’s December 1998 conviction under the B.C. Access to Abortion Services Act for “sidewalk interference,” resulting in a 30-day sentence. Pratt carried a nine-foot cross with a sign that said, “You Shall Not Murder,” as he told women and staff entering the facility that God would forgive them if they repented. Catholic Civil Rights League president Phil Horgan, a member of the Canadian Religious Freedom Alliance, said: “The alliance supports the principle that any restriction on civil liberties needs to be clearly justifiable. The decision in this case will affect what forms of protest will be restricted in future.” It is unknown when the court will make its ruling.

CBC comedian says socons tricked by Harper

TORONTO – CBC TV weekly commentator Rick Mercer made stinging comments about the Harper Conservative’s abandonment of their social conservative base in his Rick’s Rant segment. Mercer said pro-life and pro-family Conservative Party supporters have been had, explaining: “Now there is a very clever trick. Imagine convincing thousands of people to send you millions of dollars so you can form a government. Then you form a government and as a reward to those people you tell them to shut up and forget everything they’ve ever stood for and then you give them nothing and then they send you more money in return because they have no where else to go.” But then Mercer raises the specter of a hidden agenda: “heading into a federal election where Stephen Harper might form a majority, there’s only two explanations; the social conservatives have been sold down a river or they know something we don’t.” Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes said CLC advocates supporting individual candidates of whatever party, based on their history and views on the core life and family issues. By doing so, pro-lifers can avoid “inevitably disappointing total commitment to only one party or party leader.