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Stories about the euthanasia debate:

MP won't vote on contentious right-to-die bill
Steven Fletcher wants people to be able to choose life, not just death
CanWest News Services, November 2

Make life the first choice
... but not the only choice
Steven Fletcher, National Post, November 2

Quebec doctors cautiously endorse euthanasia
College of Physicians seeks to protect doctors who withhold treatment or boost medication
Globe and Mail, November 3

Quebec doctors open door to euthanasia
Right to die in 'exceptional situations' is a matter for patients to decide with their doctors, college says, as bill makes way through Parliament
Toronto Star, November 3

Euthanasia supporters worry about misuse: poll
A majority of Canadians strongly in favour of legalized euthanasia are still concerned that the sick, disabled and elderly could be put to death without consent, a new poll has found. The Environics Research Group poll found 61% of all Canadians, and 75% of Quebecers, approve of legalized euthanasia -- figures that have been fairly consistent for the past several years. But the poll also revealed that support may be weaker once respondents are asked to consider the potential consequences of such a law.
Charles Lewis, National Post, November 3

Change law on euthanasia: Quebec MDs
Quebec's College of Physicians sought to open "a little door" for debate yesterday with a position paper advocating euthanasia in some cases, but some palliative-care providers said it opens a major can of worms.
Montreal Gazette, November 4

Medical body is supportive of euthanasia
A decision by the medical regulatory body of Quebec to support legalized euthanasia in "exceptional situations" raises grave concern about crossing ethical boundaries that violate the fundamental duty of physicians, critics say.
Charles Lewis, National Post, November 4

Make life the only choice
They don't call it the scary-sounding "Hemlock Society" anymore. The new name is "Compassion and Choices." Under this cuddly rubric, bespoke death is now endorsed by respected society matrons and politicians as euthanasia's version of Planned Parenthood. The once-reviled euthanasia obsessional -- and criminal -- Dr. Kevorkian, is raking in $50,000 a pop on the lecture circuit. The cultural wind is in euthanasia's sails and the most unlikely people are heeding its siren call.
Barbara Kay, National Post, November 4

Euthanasia can't be controlled
One would think that the Quebec College of Physicians would seriously consider of the history in Netherlands when calling for changes to the Criminal Code of Canada that would permit euthanasia in cases of imminent or inevitable death: In 1973, Dr. Gertrude Postma was found guilty of euthanizing her mother but the Court gave her a suspended sentence and one year probation.
Rene Leiva, Globe and Mail, November 5

Earlier: Euthanasia debate plays to nearly empty House

Stories about Bishop Lahey and the child porn charges:

Abuse an 'evil' to be dealt with: Archbishop
Scandals involving clergy should be viewed as dramatic exceptions to the day-to-day reality of the Roman Catholic Church, but problems will be inevitable because of the frailty of human beings, Archbishop Thomas Collins told a charitable dinner in Toronto last night.
Charles Lewis, National Post, October 30

Nova Scotia Bishop Raymond Lahey faces hearing on child-porn charges
The case of a Roman Catholic bishop facing child-pornography charges is back in an Ottawa courtroom Wednesday. A routine hearing is to be held for Raymond Lahey, who is charged with possessing and importing child pornography.
Canadian Press, November 4

Lawyer for Nova Scotia Bishop Raymond Lahey asks for more disclosure of evidence in child-porn case
A judge has put off the case of a Roman Catholic bishop facing child-pornography charges.
Canadian Press, November 4

Earlier: Stories about the Nova Scotia bishop and the child porn charges

Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy court case:

Canadians support polygamy prosecutions
Only 18 per cent of those surveyed believe practice is protected under Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Vancouver Sun, October 30

Limits to tolerance are needed if multicultural Canada is to work
There is a paradox in Canadians' prized tolerance -- taken to its extreme, we inevitably will be asked to countenance the intolerable. Where that line is between tolerance and the intolerable is something that the courts are dealing with on several fronts. Polygamy is the most recent.
Daphne Bramham, Vancouver Sun, October 31

Earlier: Stories about Bountiful and the polygamy court case

Continue article >>

Stories about Islam and the West:

Son of suspected Muslim extremist expelled from Canada
Windsor police apprehended the son of a suspected Muslim extremist killed this week in Detroit by U.S. agents, and within hours Canadian border agents expelled him from the country.
Globe and Mail, October 29

Son of slain Detroit imam arrested in Windsor, FBI hunt for others connected with group
The fugitive son of an imam shot dead by U.S. federal agents Wednesday was arrested Thursday in downtown Windsor and in the custody of Canadian border authorities, the FBI said in a statement.
CanWest News Service, October 30

RCMP capture fugitive
The fugitive son of an Imam shot dead by U.S. federal agents on Wednesday was arrested yesterday in downtown Windsor, while two other Canadians alleged to be part of the Imam's extremist group are still at large.
National Post, October 30

Unmasking the radicals
An inside look at a fundamentalist group that wants an Islamic U.S. state
National Post, October 30

2 men linked to slain Detroit imam arrested in Canada; hundreds attend Muslim leader's funeral
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33, also known as Mohammad Philistine, and Yassir Ali Kahn, 30, were apprehended Saturday at homes in Windsor, Ontario, without incident. Both men reside in the southern Ontario city, but police did not indicate if the men were arrested in their own homes. The FBI confirmed the report.
Canadian Press, October 31

First a convert, now a mystery
One year ago plus a day, executives at Channel 4 Television in London received an astonishing email. It was sent from a remote region in northwestern Pakistan by an elfin, chain-smoking Canadian Muslim named Beverley Giesbrecht. The message was one of the last she sent before being kidnapped.
National Post, November 1

Two Canadians tied to controversial U.S. mosque, imam, arrested
Two Canadian men linked to a fundamentalist Islamic leader who was gunned down in a shootout with FBI agents this past week were arrested Saturday in southern Ontario.
CanWest News Services, November 1

Canadians linked to Detroit imam fight extradition
A lawyer for two Canadians wanted by the FBI following the death of a controversial imam in a police shootout in Detroit says they plan to fight extradition. The two men, Mohammad Al-Sahli, 33, and Yassir Ali Khan, 30, both of Windsor, Ontario, appeared briefly in court on Monday.
Associated Press, November 2

Cleric urges Muslims to steer clear of non-Muslims
Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid is a well-known Saudi cleric who has a large following in Canada and the West. Many young Muslim men and women, born in the West, get their direction about Islam and life in the West, not from their parents, but from so-called scholars like Al-Munajjid, who operate on the Internet.
Tarek Fatah, Full Comment, National Post, November 3

Montreal welcomes an Islamist extremist in sheep's clothing
Tomorrow evening the citizens of Montreal will be treated to a spectacle of Islamist double-talk that will leave them dazzled. Tariq Ramadan will be speaking to a gathering at the University of Montreal.
Tarek Fatah, Full Comment, National Post, November 5

Earlier: Stories about Islam and the West

Other stories from the past week:

How 'Neo-Nazi' and 'environmentalist' come together
The fatal RCMP shooting of a Nanaimo man whom the media are provocatively describing as a "neo-Nazi, environmentalist" has people shaking their heads. How could Jeff Hughes, 48, a dedicated volunteer for the respected Georgia Strait Alliance, also have been a secret swastika-saluting white supremacist?
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, October 30

Should the public fund religious schools?
Taxpayer-financed religious schools challenge the values that helped to create them
Douglas Todd, Vancouver Sun, October 31

Dancing with the undead
The West's whimsical homage to the netherworld, Halloween, pales next to Haiti's annual voodoo holiday, Jour des Morts, or Day of the Dead, with its deep religious roots and nation of devotees
Roberta Staley, Vancouver Sun, October 31

Appeal to higher power
U.S. courts weigh challenges to wording of pledge of allegiance
Charles Lewis, National Post, November 2

The Salish Sea. It's official!
The once-controversial idea to overlay the names "Strait of Georgia" and "Puget Sound" with the aboriginal-rooted "Salish Sea" has now been approved by mapmakers on both sides of the border.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, November 2

Dalai Lama: Is he becoming a 'peace mascot?'
The Vancouver Peace Summit was a bit of a love-in for most people. That has long-time Dalai Lama admirer Douglas Heselgrave worrying that some hard political truths might have been lost in the feel-good atmosphere.
Douglas Todd, The Search, Vancouver Sun, November 4
Earlier: Stories about the Dalai Lama and his recent visit to Vancouver

He's No Queen Mother
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are now visiting Canada, a visit arranged after it became embarrassing to note that he had not been invited to our country in eight years. The visit brings to mind the great love for this country exhibited by his grandmother.
Father Raymond J. de Souza, National Post, November 5

November 5/2009