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Stories about the 'Footprints' lawsuit:
B. C. writer faces legal action over claims she wrote inspirational poem
Civil action has been launched against a Coquitlam, B. C., woman who claims to be the original author of the well-known Footprints poem. According to court documents filed in Brooklyn Federal Court, Margaret Fishback Powers breached U. S. copyright laws by penning and distributing her version of the poem.
CanWest News Service, May 22
Footprints on the stand: who wrote the poem?
The poem is not great, or even very good. Footprints will never be confused with the works of Milton, Eliot, or Layton. But it does inspire and console, and it is well-loved. It has also proven to be lucrative, at least for its purported author, a Vancouver-based travelling evangelist named Margaret Fishback Powers. But questions linger about its origin; other would-be bards or their offspring say Footprints belongs to them. A legal battle looms, and for the first time, Ms. Powers will have to show some proof that she is the poem's one and true creator.
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, May 24
Earlier: Testimony: the couple behind 'Footprints'
Stories about Bill C-10 and controversial films:
MPs, including Tories, sign up to view controversial sex comedy
Among an early list of RSVPs obtained by The Canadian Press are four Conservative MPs. The list included three Liberal MPs and two New Democrat MPs, including Bill Blaikie, an ordained minister. Several Liberal Senators are on the list as are staff from every party on Parliament Hill.
Canadian Press, May 26
Watch the movie, YPF distributor tells politicians
The distributors even invited Charles McVety, head of the Canada Family Action Coalition and president of the Canada Christian College in Toronto, who appeared before the Senate committee to denounce the absence of restrictions on the tax credits. Dr. McVety won't be at the screening, but he said his absence will be because of time constraints rather than moral objections.
Globe and Mail, May 27
Staffer fired as Conservatives scurry from sex film screening
A provocative movie about the sex lives of young people is too hot for some Conservatives to handle - and a parliamentary staffer has been fired for ordering tickets to a special screening.
Canadian Press, May 27
Earlier: Stories about Bill C-10
Stories about Mormon and Muslim polygamists:
Texas seizure of polygamist-sect kids thrown out by appeals court
In a ruling that could torpedo the case against the West Texas polygamist sect, a state appeals court said Thursday authorities had no right to seize more than 440 children in a raid on the splinter group's ranch last month. The Third Court of Appeals in Austin, Texas, said the state failed to show the youngsters were in any immediate danger - the only grounds in Texas law for taking children from their parents without court action. It was not clear whether the children, now scattered in foster homes across the state, might soon be returned to their parents. A Canadian teenaged girl from British Columbia is reported among the children rounded up during the raid by Texas child-welfare authorities.
Associated Press, May 22
Texas agrees to reunite 12 polygamist sect children with parents for now
State child welfare authorities on Friday appealed a stinging court ruling that said their seizure of more than 440 children from a polygamist sect's ranch was unjustified, but they also agreed to reunite 12 children with their parents while the case moves on. . . . A teenaged girl from British Columbia was reported among the children taken away by state authorities in the raid.
Associated Press, May 23
GTA's secret world of polygamy
As Toronto mother describes her ordeal, imam admits he has 'blessed' over 30 unions
Toronto Star, May 24
Throw the book at scofflaw Islamist imam Ali Hindy for abetting polygamy
Since 1892 polygamy has been a criminal offence in Canada. On the books, at any rate. Anyone who enters into or officiates over such a union could ostensibly face up to five years in prison. Hindy knows very well that he is contravening both Canadian law and Canadian values. But hey, we're all multiculturalists now, he doubtless figures, and since he's been getting away with slagging Canadian values for such a long time, why stop at words?
Barbara Kay, Full Comment, National Post, May 26
'None of us are even married under . the law'
Facing possible legal action, B.C. polygamous sect's deposed bishop denies having 26 wives and says he hopes for judicial fairness
Globe and Mail, May 28
Earlier: Stories about the polygamist communities in Bountiful and Texas
Stories about Islam, "human rights" commissions, and the West:
'None of it matches my life, my whole life'
Years ago, a shadowy Internet figure who often went by the name Abu Banan gained notoriety as the Canadian-based godfather of an Internet outfit known for disseminating jihadist propaganda. The Globe and Mail has learned of a murky probe that spanned several years, saw a Canadian Islamic preacher -- with the same Arab name 'Abu Banan' -- questioned frequently by agents from CSIS and ended in criminal charges that nobody, including the father of three, seems to have anticipated.
Globe and Mail, May 22
Memo to the Osgoode Three
The O-3 had an idea for Maclean's. Noticing the newsmagazine liked having a go at Muslims -- 22 articles in a two-and-a-half-year span depicted Muslims disreputably -- they proposed a "counter-article." Their pitch was rejected, whereupon they cried to Complaints Canada of a foul against their human rights. The Osgoslings, to their credit, followed the first rule for freelancers: Read the publication. They studied Maclean's closely. Apparently, though, they failed to grasp the reason a writer needs to know a magazine. A winning proposal fits in with articles previously published.
Kevin Baker, National Post, May 24
Three's a trend
Here's the thing: two years ago, the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada took The Western Standard to the Alberta "human rights" commission for republishing the Danish Muhammad cartoons. A few months back, the Canadian Islamic Congress took Maclean's to the Canadian, Ontario and British Columbia "human rights" commissions for publishing an excerpt from my bestselling hate crime, America Alone. Last week, the Centre for Islamic Development took the Halifax Chronicle-Herald to the Nova Scotia "Human Rights" Commission for publishing an editorial cartoon of a, ah, person of an Islamic persuasion. Have we got a trend yet?
Mark Steyn, Maclean's, May 24
On 'human rights,' the Bard has it right
Whenever I think of Canada's human rights commissions -- which has been frequently of late -- Hamlet's exclamation, "O my prophetic soul!" rings in my ears. I'm not talking about my soul, but the Bard's. It's hard to believe Shakespeare foresaw the adventures of Canada's social engineers, but there it is. Looking far into the future is what visionaries do.
George Jonas, National Post, May 24
Prayers in the Afghan sun
Shiites' revered shrine underscores relative calm of northern region compared to tension of Kabul
Rosie Dimanno, Toronto Star, May 26
Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West, Stories about the "human rights" commissions
Stories about Catholic school boards:
Catholic board at risk of provincial takeover
Toronto's Catholic board risks being taken over by the province after trustees failed to provide the education minister with a detailed plan on how they will fix problems of excessive and improper spending.
Toronto Star, May 22
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Catholic board okays report
The Toronto Catholic District School Board last night unanimously adopted the recommendations made in a scathing provincial report on excessive trustee spending. The report by former public servant Norbert Hartmann, released this month, found the school board's trustees had voted themselves the richest package of benefits of any school board in the province, with average trustee costs peaking at $107,218 in 2007-08.
Globe and Mail, May 22
Catholic board faces takeover
The Toronto Catholic District School Board faces a "real possibility" of takeover by the provincial government, according to one trustee, who complained that his colleagues failed to deal with a spending scandal by imposing tangible reforms. John Del Grande, chairman of the audit committee, said the board also has not done anything about its "ballooning debt," which he believes leaves the Education Minister little choice but to take action.
National Post, May 23
'Save us from ourselves'
Catholic trustee caught up in expense account scandal urges province to send a supervisor
Toronto Star, May 25
Wynne moves on Catholic board
Education minister edges closer to provincial takeover of Catholic school board in ordering investigator to review its finances
Toronto Star, May 26
Province to probe Catholic school board
Investigator could recommend sending in supervisor to seize control
National Post, May 26
Catholic board seeks to avoid supervision
The Toronto Catholic District School Board is making a last-ditch effort this week to stave off a provincial takeover, making what its chairwoman says is "every effort" to balance its books and deal with questionable spending practices.
National Post, May 27
Trustees must go, ex-chair argues
The spending mess at Toronto's Catholic school board has tarnished Catholic education in this province and could threaten its future, says a former chair.
Toronto Star, May 27
Declining enrollment claims 5 Oshawa schools
It's class dismissed for five Oshawa elementary schools. Trustees with the Durham Catholic District School Board last night narrowly approved a proposal to close five elementary schools before September because of a shortage of students in south Oshawa.
Toronto Star, May 27
Earlier: Stories about the Toronto Catholic school board
Stories about abortion and related life issues:
Ottawa charity sues Planned Parenthood
First Place Pregnancy Centre, which provides counselling to women facing unplanned pregnancies, was one of three charities in line to receive funds from a raffle, organized last November by a group comprised of the NHL Ottawa Senators' wives and girlfriends. But First Place later withdrew from the fundraiser after Planned Parenthood issued a news release saying it considers the group an "antichoice organization."
National Post, May 22
Abortion rate keeps dropping
Coinciding with this month's news that Canadian women will soon be able to grab the morning-after pill off drugstore shelves, a new Statistics Canada report shows that the country's abortion rate continues to decline, particularly among teens. Between 2004 and 2005, the most recent data available, the number of induced abortions dropped 3.2 per cent to 96,815, continuing a five-year downward trend. The rates fell in every age group except for women aged 35 to 39, which remained the same.
Globe and Mail, May 22
Treating people like spare parts
This has not been a good week for children in the mother of parliaments. In a series of votes at Westminster, Britain's House of Commons passed by large margins provisions of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill that would allow the creation of animal-human hybrid embryos; would permit genetic screening of embryos to select so-called "saviour siblings"; and would remove the obligation to consider the role of fathers in artificial reproduction.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, May 22
'Gone Too Far' Anti-Abortion Ads Rejected
An ad campaign by LifeCanada, marking the 20th anniversary of the Supreme Court of Canada's decriminalization of abortion by asking if Canada has "gone too far," has been rejected by Advertising Standards Canada. . . . After three complaints were filed with the ad industry's body, a panel deemed the ad to be "deceptive."
National Post, May 27
Why is Advertising Standards Canada lying to Canadians about our abortion law?
I wouldn't call myself a pro-lifer. But I'm still offended to see a body such as Advertising Standards Canada (ASC) -- whose self-described mission is "to ensure the integrity and viability of advertising in Canada through industry self-regulation" -- falsely censure an entirely truthful ad run by a pro-life group. . . . I wonder how Canadian advertisers feel to know that a group that purports to represent and supervise them has had a batch of its letterhead co-opted by pro-choice activists.
Jonathan Kay, Full Comment, National Post, May 27
Other stories from the past week:
Pastor says mom of three murdered kids in Merritt, B.C., couldn't cope
A pastor who has had ongoing contact with the mother of three children killed in Merritt, B.C., last month says it's impossible to know how Darcie Clark is coping. Reverend Juanita Austin of the Trinity United Church in the Interior B.C. community says very few people can empathize with Clarke.
Canadian Press, May 22
Earlier: Stories about the Schoenborn children
Keeping the faith
Last month, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal told Christian Horizons to pay damages. The ruling is being appealed. It is a fight that might seem a minor skirmish between old-time evangelical Christianity and a modern view of sexuality, but the case is one of several small eruptions popping up here and in the United States that unveil a much deeper battle between the state's view of individual rights and the rights of religious institutions working in the public sphere to set their own standards. Catholic charities in Boston have withdrawn from the adoption business because they cannot refuse same-sex couples, and in Colorado, religious leaders threatened to dramatically trim their charitable work after the government proposed a bill that would prohibit them from hiring and firing on faith-based reasons.
National Post, May 24
Earlier: Human rights tribunal forces Christian organization to ditch morality code
Please don't feed the homeless
Church group lambasted for park program in Abbotsford, B. C.
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, May 24
Earlier: Stories about the Abbotsford church feeding the homeless
Animation fest comes to life
Ladner's Ken Priebe organizes free event geared towards kids, teens & families at Cedar Park Church
Delta Optimist, May 24
Upside-down church provokes great debate
The upside-down church at Coal Harbour is the most provocative public sculpture I've ever seen. Visually, I love how the church's powerful diagonal lines and flash of red contrast with the endless grey-green verticals of Vancouver's increasingly monotonous skyrises. The sculpture shouts: "I'm having fun and a bit of mischief. You're welcome to respond."
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, May 24
Earlier: Device to root out evil?
A pipe dream come true
In 2004, the congregation of the Langley Canadian Reformed Church decided they needed a new organ. The old pipe organ, installed in 1982 when the church was built, was a poor creature of the congregation's limited funds. It was jerry-rigged, a make-do project built from scavenged components.
Vancouver Sun, May 27
Sex and the City: The story of four insecure women searching for love
To great popular culture fanfare, the Sex and the City movie opens on Friday. I don't expect that I shall see it, so I thought I might offer a comment beforehand. Indeed, I rather missed the entire television series, but for a rather extraordinary confluence of events.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, May 28
May 29/2008
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