The ‘Ignite Our Culture’ conference, held March 28 – 29 in Langley, addressed freedom of speech. Michael Wagner, PhD, author of Standing on Guard for Thee (Freedom Press, 2007), was a key speaker. This is an excerpt from the Edmonton writer’s book.

THE Christian Right in Canada had its genesis in response to the Sexual Revolution of the 1960s, especially the legalization of abortion and the advance of homosexual rights.

There were precursors to the Christian Right before then, especially associated with the Social Credit Party. But what is commonly thought of as the Christian Right in Canada largely began to take shape in the early 1970s.

Thus, contrary to some claims in the popular press, Canada’s Christian Right did not first make its appearance in recent years – say, the late 1980s through to the time of the ‘gay marriage’ debate. The historical record makes this clear.  

Home-grown movement  

The Christian Right in Canada has been, for the most part, a home-grown movement. The people who have been most important to the movement historically are all originally  from Ontario: Ken Campbell, the first head of an organization opposing gay rights; Alberta Report publisher Ted Byfield; and REAL Women of Canada leader Gwen Landolt.

To see the Christian Right in Canada as an American import or transplant is to entirely miss the mark. Certainly, there have been occasional American influences through magazines, books and visiting speakers; but exactly the same can be said about American influences on elements of the social Left – such as the abortion rights and gay rights movements.

In fact, if American influence is truly a concern, it is the social Left which finds much of its inspiration from the United States. And ironically, this can be seen most clearly in the inspiration for – and history of – that supposed bastion of ‘Canadian values,’ the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  

For most of its history, 1867 to 1982, Canada had a constitution where civil rights and liberties were protected by ‘unwritten’ constitutional conventions inherited from the United Kingdom. Although this form of rights protection was quite successful, some Canadians, especially intellectuals, found the American ideal of a constitutionally-entrenched ‘bill of rights’ more attractive.

Liberal policy activism

Many people on the Left were quite taken with the liberal policy activism of the United States Supreme Court – which began by the late 1950s, under the leadership of Chief Justice Earl Warren. Judicial activism of this sort was only possible through interpretations of the U.S. Bill of Rights.

Since Canada’s I960 Bill of Rights was just a piece of regular legislation rather than part of the Constitution, such activism was largely out of reach for Canadian judges.

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In order for Canada to have left-wing policies imposed by the courts, Canada would need a constitutionally-entrenched rights document.

It was with this hope in mind that many Canadian leftists supported the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.  In adopting the Charter, Canada was shifting away from its primarily British-inspired type of constitution, to a more American-inspired type of constitution.

Seymour Martin Lipset, an internationally renowned scholar, writes: “Perhaps the most important step that Canada has taken to Americanize itself – far greater in its implications than the signing of the free trade treaty – has been the incorporation into its constitution of a bill of rights, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

Similarly, University of Western Ontario law professor Robert Martin states: “The Charter is – culturally, historically and ideologically – an American document.”

If people are concerned about American values being infused into Canadian policy-making, they need look no further than the Trudeau Constitution adopted in 1982. That was when so-called ‘Canadian values’ were finally brought into Canada’s constitution, direct from Washington D.C. – courtesy of the Canadian admirers of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The true patriots

In a very real sense, Canadian Christian Right activists have been fighting against the American-inspired values of Hollywood and the Sexual Revolution, as enshrined in the Charter of Rights. These people are the true Canadian patriots.  

Ultimately, the values involved on both sides of the culture war transcend national boundaries. The conflict between social conservatives and the social Left is found in all of the Western nations. It’s not the ‘Canadian values’ of the Left versus the ‘American values’ of the Right – but, rather, traditional Western morality versus the perspective of the Sexual Revolution. It’s a civilizational and cultural civil war.  

This is a fight, really, over different ways of life for human beings. Which way is best? Is traditional morality oppressive and restrictive, holding people back from real enjoyment of their lives and true happiness? Many think so today.

But as the walls of traditional morality have been broken down, it’s becoming easier to see the price that is being paid. And it’s often children paying the highest price.

Clearly, the traditional family is the better way of life. And as such, it is likely people will return to this way of life at some point in the future. For these reasons – and because they serve the Lord of  history – conservative Christians can, and should be, optimistic for the future.

May 2008