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Stories about the Abbotsford church feeding the homeless:
City tells church to stop feeding the homeless
A church in Abbotsford, B.C., has been asked to stop feeding a group of homeless people that the city says is frightening residents of a seniors' home. City council had initially asked churches to help them deal with issues of homelessness in the area. Peace Lutheran Church has been delivering breakfast items like cereal and juice boxes every Thursday to homeless people in Jubilee Park.
Canadian Press, May 16
Don't feed the hungry, Abbotsford church pastor told
Business folk, councillors want food handouts to homeless to stop
The Province, May 16
Pastor refuses to stop feeding homeless
As he has for the past six weeks, Pastor Christopher Reiners and a handful of volunteers on Thursday morning served coffee and cereal to about two dozen homeless and downtrodden in Jubilee Park. He was asked to move his food program to his church or stop it all together at a meeting last week with Abbotsford's Downtown Business Association president Bob Bos and city councillors John Smith, Bruce Beck and Lynne Harris. They claimed his philanthropy attracts aggressive drug dealers and encourages people to leave their garbage and human waste in the downtown core.
Vancouver Sun, May 16
Stories about Vic Toews and his possible appointment to the bench:
Senior federal Tory minister may end up on judge's bench
A key member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet could be parachuted into a judgeship in Manitoba, a Conservative Party source has told the Canadian Press. Treasury Board President Vic Toews is expected to be offered a federally appointed judicial position, said the source. Toews represents the Provencher riding in Manitoba's Bible Belt, generally regarded as a safe Tory seat. But Toews' wife of more than 30 years, Lorraine Kathleen Fehr, has filed divorce papers. Court records show the divorce petition was entered March 31. The judicial appointment is "100 per cent a golden parachute," the source said, adding: "Harper doesn't want it (Toews' personal life) as an issue in the next election."
Canadian Press, May 17
Potential post for Toews raises ethical concerns
The federal Conservatives could raise questions of possible conflict of interest and transparency if they move to appoint cabinet minister Vic Toews as a judge in Manitoba, opposition MPs say. . . . Mr. Toews's political profile has lessened since he was shuffled out of the justice portfolio. And there is speculation that his messy divorce from his wife of 32 years, Lorraine Fehr, now before the courts in Manitoba, might cause disaffection among conservative Christian voters in his Provencher riding.
Globe and Mail, May 17
Earlier: New justice minister open to restorative justice
Stories about Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed:
Ben Stein
Interview with George Stroumboulopoulos
The Hour, CBC, May 16
Judge to rule on Yoko Ono lawsuit over use of 'Imagine' in movie
U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein said he will rule quickly in the case after both sides described the issues surrounding the song and movie in harsh terms during arguments on Monday. Lawyer Anthony T. Falzone said the movie, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed," was set to open in Canada on June 6 and DVD rights needed to be finalized by the end of May for distribution in October. The movie is currently being shown in about 200 theatres in the United States.
Associated Press, May 20
Yoko Ono tries to block use of 'Imagine' in film
Yoko Ono wants a judge to imagine a movie challenging the theory of evolution but without John Lennon's song "Imagine" in it. The film's distributors are fighting to keep it in and are urging the judge to act quickly so the movie can yet play a role in the presidential campaign this fall.
Associated Press, May 21
Earlier: Expelled generates more heat than light in evolution debate
Stories about the American presidential campaign:
On religion factor, it's Obama for president
There is little doubt events beyond religion will stir up voters before the November election, particularly if a conflict arises with Iran. But barring an earth-shattering political event, I'd place my bets, given religion-rooted trends, on Obama for president.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, May 18
Obama plays the faith card
The flag pin is now permanently affixed to the lapel. He has reintroduced himself as a Christian candidate of faith here, another Appalachian state where he has had trouble connecting with Democratic voters. He plans to begin speaking about the military service of his grandparents.
Toronto Star, May 20
Earlier: Stories about Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright
Stories about Islam and the West:
An apostle, not a king
Why do so many Muslims want to create a state which they feel is necessary to put into practice the message of Muhammad? What was the task of the Prophet Muhammad? Was he sent to Earth to be the ruler of the Muslim world, their king? Or was he Allah's apostle on Earth, a messenger for all of humanity, who left behind a moral compass to serve as guide for a more ethical, equitable and just society? Alternatively, was he both a Caesar and a Christ for Muslims?
Tarek Fatah, National Post, May 16
A policy of intolerance
Persecution of Baha'is is a litmus test for rights and Iran is failing
Payam Akhavan, Globe and Mail, May 20
Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West
Stories about the Taylor-Bouchard commission on Quebec minorities:
Do not fear Muslims, report says
The "Two Solitudes" of French and English have been replaced in Quebec by "deux inquietudes" -- the twin anxieties of the majority and the new minorities, according to a much-anticipated report on reasonable accommodation. French-Canadians, a "strong ethnocultural majority," fear being submerged by minorities who are "fragile and worried about the future," says the report. The French-Canadian majority in Quebec must shake off its angst about minorities and help build a truly open society in a globalized world, says the report. The report recommends that people in Quebec learn more English -- even becoming trilingual -- be nicer to Muslims and get better informed.
National Post, May 17
'Enough about the hijab'
Quebecers should accept head scarf and move on, report concludes
Montreal Gazette, May 20
Also: National Post
Bloc and PQ blast report on Quebec religious minorities
Sovereigntist leaders are demanding the immediate release of a leaked report on the reasonable accommodation of religious minorities in Quebec that calls for francophones to become bilingual and be more open-minded toward immigrants.
Globe and Mail, May 20
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Expert on reasonable accommodation
What would you like to know about reasonable accommodation? Do you have questions about any of the issues raised during the commission's hearings? What is the situation like outside Quebec? Has the so-called clash of cultures impacted your life in any way? Jacob Levy, professor of political science at McGill University and a member of the school's Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, will join us online Thursday at 3 p.m. ET to take your questions.
Globe and Mail, May 21
Charest promises action after Quebec commission on minorities reports
Premier Jean Charest promised Wednesday to act quickly and concretely following the release of a report into the accommodation of Quebec immigrants but he rejected the idea of a provincial constitution that would set out the fundamental values of Quebec society. Charest said that an action plan would have the "greatest impact and most immediate impact." The premier said the plan would defend the "profound" values of Quebecers, which are the "rule of French, gender equality (and) the separation of church and state."
Canadian Press, May 21
Earlier: Quebec Protestants welcome "secular" society
Stories about the "human rights" commissions:
Defending the freedom of freedom's enemies
The famous line attributed to Voltaire wasn't: "I will defend to the death your right to say any damn thing that doesn't rub me the wrong way." It was: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." How would Canada's Human Rights Commissioners formulate Voltaire's sentiment? Try: "We will defend our right to disapprove of what you say to the death." Whose death? Excellent question. The HRCs, I hope. If not, it'll be liberty's.
George Jonas, CanWest Publications, May 14
Abducted by aliens
I had better tread carefully today, for I am going to write disparagingly about an entire class of sentient beings -- and we should all know what has happened to Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn, Kathy Shaidle, Kate McMillan, Jonathan Kay, Fr Alphonse de Valk, Mark and Connie Fournier, Marc Lemire, and a bewildering, quickly growing list of other Canadian writers hauled before the so-called "human rights" commissions (or more precisely, humanoid rites commissars), and shaken down with frivolous but financially ruinous sue-and-stall court litigation, on the suspicion that they may have entertained "hateful," politically-incorrect thoughts.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, May 18
The original Bete Noire
A ghost, if not literal then certainly metaphorical, will be haunting a hearing room at the Vancouver headquarters of the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal come June 2. That's when a Tribunal "member" will begin hearing evidence in a five-day pseudo-trial into a discrimination complaint laid by Mohamed Elmasry of the Canadian Islamic Congress, "on behalf of Muslim residents in the province of British Columbia," against Maclean's magazine. The B. C. proceedings will come less than two months after the Ontario Human Rights Commission decided it did not have the jurisdiction to hear a similar complaint against the magazine. But B. C.'s tribunal most certainly does have the jurisdiction, thanks in part to that aforementioned ghost.
Terry O'Neill, National Post, May 20
The case for censoring hate
Although it was central in ridding Canada of one of the world's leading hate-mongers and ending Canada's scandalous role as the world's leading exporter of Neo-Nazi and Holocaust-denial materials, Section 13(1) got little notice in the media and no protest by civil liberties organizations at the time. Only recently, largely in the National Post and on the blogosphere, has Section 13(1) emerged as an issue for debate.
Mark J. Freiman, National Post, May 21
Earlier: Stories about the Human Rights Commissions
Other stories from the past week:
Mayor vows to continue with prayer recitals
The Mayor of Saguenay, Que., says he intends to continue prayer recitals before council meetings despite the province's human rights commission saying the practice goes against the city's need to be neutral and respect religious rights. In a non-binding decision, the commission said yesterday that Quebec towns still reciting prayers before council meetings should stop doing so as the practice goes against well-established jurisprudence.
CanWest News Service, May 16
Earlier: Stories about prayer in Ontario and Quebec government meetings
Worship of Pope, King of Pop to be aired at last
An obscure documentary held back from its mainstream premiere in 1986 for being too controversial, and kept in archives ever after, will finally get its screening this weekend. he film Passiflora, made with what was at the time an enormous budget in the heyday of the National Film Board, is about the former Pope and Michael Jackson, and touches on everything from transexuality to abortion.
National Post, May 17
Tears, prayers for victims of quake
Hundreds gather at Chinese consulate, Nathan Phillips Square for candlelight vigils
Toronto Star, May 17
Questions raised about why girl was in Texas compound
It has been more than six weeks since Texas authorities took a Canadian girl into custody during a raid of the isolated compound of the polygamist Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, child-protection workers are still trying to figure out how old she is as well as verifying her citizenship. Questions are also being raised about why she was in Texas.
Globe and Mail, May 19
Earlier: Stories about the polygamist communities in Bountiful and Texas
A good look at the good book
Why the Saint John's Bible project has spent a decade painting the Holy Writ with words
National Post, May 21
'It's going to kill me'
The train brushed part of her body and the wheels trapped her by her hair and coat. She spent 20 minutes underneath the subway car before being freed -- covered in blood and grime. Hours later, she was able to tell her husband she had survived. "I do believe that God saved me," Ms. Kelly said in her first interview since the accident. "Another moment and my head would have been crushed." Ms. Kelly said she was running to catch the train while returning home alone from the Salvation Army church around 1 p. m.
National Post, May 21
Campus abortion debate reaches compromise
Rather than face a hearing at the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal, the Capilano College Student Union has agreed that an anti-abortion student group can operate on campus next year. The compromise, the specific terms of which are confidential, comes after the student union twice denied official club status to the school's Heartbeat Club, on the grounds that its activities -- debates, presentations, poster campaigns -- would threaten a woman's right to choose abortion.
National Post, May 21
Earlier: Are you really free to practice what you preach?
News from nowhere
So it will soon be legal in Britain to hybridize humans with other species, and grow humans from embryo for "scientific research" -- however medically unnecessary. Two free votes on Monday established this, in the House of Commons at Westminster. Neither was close. . . . Gordon Brown was uttering an untruth. As even the leading "expert" advocate of the government's measures -- Lord Robert Winston, the English fertility specialist, politician, and television personality -- has admitted, there is no pressing need for animal/human hybrid embryos. He had already said that the loss of the hybrid clause "won't fundamentally alter the science of stem cell biology." The research could perfectly well go on with adult stem cells, to the use of which there is no moral objection. Even the Catholic Church has contributed directly and materially to that research.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, May 21
May 22/2008
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