|
Note: Registration or subscription to the host news sites may be required to read some of the stories linked here.
Stories about residential schools and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission:
A troubling 5-year quest
Commission called 'amazing,' or a 'sham'
National Post, May 31
Residential Schools: Another View
At the time, aboriginal residential schools were not much different from many other schools. Many non-aboriginal children, for example, were strapped in schools; some were also sexually abused. Not surprisingly, some pedophiles have been imprisoned, but little attempt has been made -- so far, at least -- to charge teachers and administrators for using corporal punishment, in part because such brutal practices were widely accepted at the time. Given this context, were aboriginal residential schools the unmitigated disasters that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission will, without a doubt, hear them described as? Probably not.
Rodney A. Clifton, National Post, May 31
Earlier: Stories about the residential schools
Stories about the upside-down church sculpture:
Upside-down church 'a big win for Calgary'
Not wanted in Vancouver, a controversial sculpture will have a new home in Alberta
Globe and Mail, June 2
Alas, Vancouver loses its upside-down church
Vancouver won't have its upside-down church sculpture to kick around anymore. It was announced today (Monday, June 2) the mischievous outdoor sculpture is heading on a lease to Calgary's Glenbow Museum, after the Vancouver parks board voted to dismantle it - despite many adoring the debate-provoking work, called Device to Root Out Evil.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, June 2
'Sophisticated' Vancouver losing piece of art to Calgary
Upside-down church changes cities thanks to our myopic park board
Miro Cernetig, Vancouver Sun, June 3
Earlier: Device to root out evil?
Stories about Catholic school boards:
Stop 'divisive bickering': archbishop
Toronto's archbishop has urged Catholic school trustees embroiled in an expense account fiasco to give up their "divisive bickering" and concentrate on rebuilding trust by doing what's right for students.
National Post, May 29
Trustees urged to step down
Clarington-Peterborough Catholic school board asks trustees' association to put pressure on Toronto board to 'do the right thing' over spending abuses
Toronto Star, June 2
Catholic board cuts 85 teachers
Trustees eliminate $14 million deficit, cut school budgets 10%
Toronto Star, June 3
Catholic school board rejects HPV vaccine
Public health nurses will not be welcome at Halton Catholic schools this fall to administer a vaccine to fight a virus contracted through sexual activity. Trustees voted Tuesday night to not provide space in its elementary schools for the delivery of the HPV vaccination to girls in Grade 8.
Canadian Press, June 4
Ontario takes control of Toronto's Catholic school board
The province is moving to take over control of Toronto's scandal-plagued Catholic District School Board. Education Minister Kathleen Wynne says supervisor Norbert Hartman will immediately take over control of the financial management and administration of the board.
Canadian Press, June 4
Earlier: Stories about Catholic school boards
Stories about Islam, "human rights" commissions and the West:
Ignoring Baha'i plight hypocritical
Iran arrests should be on Canada's agenda
Steven Edwards, National Post, May 29
'Anti-Islam' case begins before rights tribunal
A four-day human rights hearing began in an overcrowded courtroom Monday with the Canadian Islamic Congress claiming a Maclean's magazine article subjected Muslims to hatred and contempt.
Vancouver Sun, June 3
The court of last resort
In the subterranean bowels of a provincial courthouse, a bizarre and frightening spectacle starts to unfold. At issue are the pointed musings of Mark Steyn, a journalist and author living in the United States. A lengthy excerpt from his controversial book, America Alone, was published two years ago in Toronto-based Maclean's magazine, a weekly publication owned by Toronto-based Roger's Publishing Ltd. The book excerpt ran as a cover story, entitled "Why the Future Belongs to Islam," and argued that Western democracy is threatened by the spread of Islam. In response, a human rights complaint was made here, in British Columbia, by an electrical engineer living in Waterloo, Ont.
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, June 3
Maclean's hearing missing relevance
Were they not inexorably entwined in the mock trial of Maclean's magazine and the attempt to limit legal expression of opinion in this country, the four legal amigos seated at the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal's table of complaints would almost be pitiable. Not pitiful. Faisal Joseph is a former Crown counsel now in private practice, and the lawyer in charge of bringing two human rights complaints against Maclean's, "on behalf of all the Muslim residents of the province of British Columbia."
Brian Hutchinson, National Post, June 4
No faith in conversion
The Canadian government is preparing to deport a West African man to face the wrath of his family, fundamentalist Muslims who have allegedly threatened to kill him for converting to Christianity. Lamine Yansane grew up in a strict Muslim household in Guinea, and his father disowned him when he married a Catholic woman from his village and began attending church himself. Fearing for his life, Mr. Yansane, 36, came to Canada in 2005 and applied for refugee status, but his application was refused because the Immigration and Refugee Board member hearing his case did not believe him.
National Post, June 4
Muslims versus Maclean's demeans tribunal's standing
Deciding if writer incited hatred is beyond jurisdiction of B.C. Human Rights
Ian Mulgrew, Vancouver Sun, June 4
Show trial
A group of Islamist fanatics, claiming to speak for every Muslim in Canada, charged Maclean's magazine with "spreading hatred against Muslims" for having printed a lucid and reasonable (if controversial) excerpt from Steyn's bestselling book, America Alone. This is a news story that should be on the front page of every newspaper in Canada, every day until it is resolved.
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, June 4
Earlier: Stories about Islam, "human rights" commissions, and the West
Stories about Mormon and Muslim polygamists:
Sharia by stealth -- Ontario turns a blind eye to polygamy
Hindy is using polygamy as a proxy for his fundamentalist version of Islam, something he wants to see legitimized in Canadian society as a whole. It is part of an attempt at empire building, a bid that if successful will enhance his influence within the Muslim community and demonstrate that Ontario and Canada is too ignorant and too afraid of Islam to uphold its own laws. He has admitted as much, challenging Ontario's government to dare stop him. "If the laws of the country conflict with Islamic law, if one goes against the other, then I am going to follow Islamic law, simple as that," he told the Star.
John Turley-Ewart, Full Comment, National Post, May 29
Jeffs's wedding pictures disgust
The idea of child brides is disgusting, but seeing photographs of 12- and 14-year-olds with their adult husbands is stomach-churning. That's why Elissa Wall passed out photos of her 14-year-old self after testifying against Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, last September.
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, May 30
'Polygamy is a crime, non?'
Fouad Boutaya found out the law isn't quite as clear-cut as he thought when his wife married his friend and police said they could do nothing
Toronto Star, June 1
Conservative wants Ontario to launch investigation into polygamist marriages
Ontario's Liberal government should follow British Columbia's lead and launch a criminal investigation into polygamist marriages in the province, Conservative Lisa MacLeod said Monday. MacLeod wrote Premier Dalton McGuinty requesting the investigation after media reports about a Toronto Imam, Aly Hindy, who claimed to have officiated at more than 30 polygamous marriages in Toronto.
Canadian Press, June 2
B.C. attorney general orders special prosecutor for B.C. polygamous community
Public concerns about older men marrying young girls and men with multiple wives at the B.C. polygamous community of Bountiful played a strong part in the decision to review whether charges of sexual abuse and polygamy are warranted against members of the religious group, says B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal. Oppal said Monday that despite two earlier legal opinions weighing in against criminal charges, he directed the criminal justice branch to appoint a special prosecutor to look into allegations of misconduct in Bountiful, located near Creston in southeastern B.C.
Canadian Press, June 2
B.C. orders investigation of polygamous sect
Undeterred by advice to let the courts decide, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal has named a special prosecutor to weigh charges against individuals in Bountiful, a B.C. community whose polygamist lifestyle has been a thorn in the side of officials for decades.
Globe and Mail, June 2
Oppal orders special prosecutor to pursue charges in Bountiful
Attorney-General Wally Oppal has asked a special prosecutor to proceed with any charges he feels are appropriate against members of a polygamous community in Bountiful. The move goes against previous opinions in the case, which have found it would be difficult to pursue charges, either because of the constitutionality of Canada's laws as they pertain to polygamy or because prosecutors have gone so many years without taking action.
Vancouver Sun, June 3
Polygamist leader says BC attorney general guilty of religious persecution
A B.C. religious leader who openly admits to having numerous wives and dozens of children is accusing the province's attorney general of religious persecution. Winston Blackmore, one of two religious leaders of the polygamous community of Bountiful, said Wally Oppal appears determined to involve himself and his government in religious persecution against members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
Canadian Press, June 3
Continue article >>
|
It's proving difficult to prosecute polygamists
Legislators in two separate jurisdictions -- British Columbia and Texas -- erased any doubts Monday about just how difficult it is to prosecute polygamous fundamentalist Mormons. Texas took a very aggressive approach and has had to backtrack. British Columbia has taken a passive approach for nearly 60 years, and now Attorney-General Wally Oppal is finding it difficult to turn up the heat.
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, June 3
Texas order slows B.C. family's reunion
A Texas court order paving the way for hundreds of children to be reunited with their parents could hamper the reunion of a British Columbia girl with her family, says a lawyer representing the girl's parents. The girl, whose parents live in Bountiful was caught up in an April police raid of the Yearning for Zion compound in Texas.
Globe and Mail, June 4
Islamic Polygamy continues to get a free pass from Ontario's Liberal government
This week the Liberal government of Ontario has continued to dissemble on polygamy when pressed by Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod and NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo -- this, despite the fact that we have a woman, Safa Rigby, on the public record saying she is a victim of polygamy, and an Imam, Ali Hindy, on the public record saying he has performed polygamous marriages and that sharia law trumps Canadian law.
John Turley-Ewart, Full Comment, National Post, June 4
Earlier: Stories about Mormon and Muslim polygamists
Stories about same-sex marriage:
Appeals court rejects bid to give union dues to church
The Federal Court of Appeal has rejected the legal challenge of a longtime public servant who wanted her $800 annual union dues diverted to her church to protest the union's support for gay marriage and its zero tolerance against "homophobia" and "heterosexism." Susan Comstock, a devout Catholic who worked for the federal government for 35 years until her retirement last September, unsuccessfully argued that forcing her to pay dues to the Public Service Alliance of Canada violated her Charter of Rights guarantee to freedom of religion and freedom of conscience.
Ottawa Citizen, May 30
Regina marriage commissioner fined for refusing to marry same-sex couple
A Saskatchewan human rights tribunal has fined a Regina marriage commissioner $2,500 after finding he discriminated against a gay couple when he declined to perform their same-sex ceremony. "I'm very disappointed in the decision," Orville Nichols, who has performed nearly 2,000 marriages since 1983, said yesterday. He had referred the couple to another marriage commissioner because he said his religious beliefs kept him from performing the ceremony.
CanWest News Service, May 31
Sask. marriage commissioner says he may appeal same-sex decision
The Saskatchewan marriage commissioner at the centre of a same-sex controversy says he's hoping he can appeal a decision by a provincial human rights tribunal. The body has ruled that Orville Nichols discriminated against a same-sex couple when he refused to marry them in 2005.
Canadian Press, May 31
Earlier: Freedom of Religion and Conscience Act proposed for Canada
Stories about abortion and related life issues:
York students to ban clubs opposed to abortion
In response to a series of controversies over abortion debates on Canadian campuses, the student government of York University has tabled an outright ban on student clubs that are opposed to abortion. Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students, said student clubs will be free to discuss abortion in student space, as long as they do it "within a pro-choice realm," and that all clubs will be investigated to ensure compliance.
National Post, May 29
Stifling abortion debate on campus defiles a house of liberal study
The abortion debate is one that requires fine, judicious ethical reasoning, to say nothing of the scientific and historical facts that may come into play. In a way it is perhaps the ultimate test of intellectual strength; those who plunge into the thorns must be prepared to recognize fallacies and spot inappropriate uses (in themselves and others) of analogy and "slippery slope" arguments. This form of combat is the last thing that student officials or anyone else should be seeking to restrict on a university campus, because it is what universities are for.
Colby Cosh, Full Comment, National Post, May 29
They Think They're People
Along with its decadence, the drive to confer human-like rights on animals is also both obscene and trivializing: obscene in its misguided focus on dumb beasts at a time when there is so much human misery in the world; trivializing in the fact that it elevates the fight for animal personhood to the same level as that of the Famous Five or, for that matter, pro-lifers' continuing campaign to have unborn children declared legal persons. How ironic and sad it would be to see animal rightists succeed where pro-lifers have failed.
Terry O'Neill, National Post, May 30
Caveat emptor
There are some facts that are so politically incorrect, that people will be punished merely for mentioning them. We saw a particularly crisp example of this last week, when Advertising Standards Canada ruled that a billboard advertisement by LifeCanada was "deceptive."
David Warren, Ottawa Citizen, June 1
Students shut out abortion opponents
The student government at York University yesterday voted unanimously to deny "resources, space, recognition or funding" to student clubs or individuals "whose primary or sole purpose" is to oppose abortion. "Our summer quorum is eight [members], so we surpassed our quorum," said Gilary Massa, vice-president external of the York Federation of Students, who said she did not know how many people actually voted.
National Post, June 2
Earlier: Stories about abortion and related life issues
Other stories from the past week:
B.C. court refuses to grant injunction to B.C. Anglicans who voted to split
The B.C. Supreme Court has rebuked a group of dissident Anglicans who sought to take control of a church building after voting to leave Canada's Anglican Church. Four months ago a group of parishioners at the Anglican Church of St. Mary in Mechosin, B.C., near Victoria, voted to realign themselves with the more conservative Anglican Network in Canada.
Canadian Press, May 29
Earlier: Stories about Anglican and Lutheran schisms over homosexuality
Christians have led environmental movement for decades
"The Earth is not a hotel. It's our home." That's the message one of the world's leading Christian theologians sent to B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and 125 members of diverse religions at a recent Vancouver gathering. It was the latest effort by Canadian-American theologian Sallie McFague, author of A New Climate for Theology: God, the World and Global Warming, to counter centuries in which Christian leaders taught that humans should exploit the Earth for their own ends.
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, May 29
Speaking for the Pope
Head of Vatican press office answers questions ranging from aliens to abuse
National Post, May 30
Quarter of Canadians don't believe in any god, poll says
Fewer than three-quarters of Canadians believe in a god, suggests a new Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey. "Religion in Canada today is not a particularly divisive subject and tolerance levels for different beliefs are high," said Harris-Decima president Bruce Anderson. "This is evident in the fact that one in four people feel comfortable saying they do not believe in a god." The poll found 72 per cent of respondents said they believed in a god, while 23 per cent said they did not believe in any god. Six per cent did not offer an opinion. Polls have told a different story in the United States.
Canadian Press, May 31
'Something horrible has happened in 1505'
The worst gangland slaying in B.C. history happened last October in Surrey. Two of the six victims were bystanders
Vancouver Sun, May 31
Earlier: Stories about the Christian bystander killed in a Surrey gang war
Conservative MPs duck special screening
Controversial film isn't as racy as its title, director says
CanWest News Service, May 31
Knife-wielding dad's horrific rampage began with tenant
Police sources have told the Herald that Lall was hearing voices in his head and believed he was possessed by the devil, but Slater said it's premature to say if a mental breakdown triggered the killings.
Calgary Herald, May 31
Also: National Post | Vancouver Sun
"God" needs a name change
God needs an image makeover -- and there's no better place to start than with God's name. Whenever someone mentions "God" in Canada, conversations crash to a halt. Everyone gets nervous. And it's not just from Canadian politeness. It's because most people mistakenly think they know what the other is talking about when they say "God."
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, May 31
Looking a $19-million gift horse in the mouth
The Catholic Archdiocese of Toronto has refused a new church and land being offered by auto magnate Frank Stronach
Globe and Mail, June 3
Why American teenagers are far more violent than Canadian teens
Why are American teenagers three times more violent than Canadian teens? Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's not necessarily because there are more crime-ridden big cities in the U.S. Nor is it because there are more blacks and Hispanics - or more poverty - in the U.S. Instead, the answer has more to do with the fact there are far more children born to teenage mothers in the U.S. than in Canada - and that many more U.S. teenagers are addicted to TV.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, June 3
Barack Obama's victory: Being not-Clinton was as important as being black
Whatever else he might accomplish, Senator Barack Obama has prevented the restoration of the Clintons. That alone is cause for rejoicing. How did he do it? It was partly about him, but mostly about her. Many have remarked that in the identity politics world of the Democratic Party, the first credible black candidate trumped the first credible woman candidate.
Father Raymond J. De Souza, National Post, June 4
Earlier: Stories about the American presidential campaign
June 5/2008
|
