FCP leader re Ontario politics.

With the election of John Tory as the new leader of the Ontario Progressive Conservatives, the Ontario political scene has become very clear for Catholic voters.

On life and family issues, the Liberals, the NDP and the PCs stand on the same side. Now all three leaders also agree with their party platforms and agree with each other. Thus there is little chance that this government, or even the next, will change its course on these issues.

They agree on using public money to pay for abortions and abortion clinics; they agree on providing benefits to homosexual couples; they agree on re-defining marriage to include any two people of any sex; they agree on what type of sex education to enforce in schools and promote contraception; they agree on the over-the counter sale of the "morning after" pill; and they are probably going to agree on the thrust of the left-lib, homosexual agenda for "advancing" these issues even further.

On life and family issues Catholics stand in opposition to the policies of these parties.

Fortunately, the Family Coalition party of Ontario fully reflects the Catholic position on life and family issues. According to Texas Catholic Bishop Rene Henry Gracida and several pro-life and family organizations, these issues far outweigh others in importance.

On September 8, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office of Government Liaison announced the withdrawal of the Presidential Questionnaire which had been delivered weeks earlier to the Bush and Kerry campaigns because it improperly equated doctrinal issues like abortion with judgment calls like the minimum wage.

According to Bishop Gracida, who reviewed it, "The Questionnaire should have been much shorter and should have been limited to questions on those issues on which there is a clear unequivocal teaching of the Church, e.g., abortion, cloning, assisted suicide, embryonic stem-cell research and marriage."

Because of the many and repeated teachings from the Magisterium of the Church on life and family issues, the average good Catholic is aware of these issues when deciding to support a political party or a candidate. But the same person may be confused when other issues, such as homelessness, minimum wage, etc. are proposed by Catholic media as equivalent to fundamental issues.

Bishop Gracida explains the "danger to Catholic voters" by saying that "there is no clear unequivocal position of the Church on such issues as the minimum wage, immigration, farm subsidies, etc. The inclusion of such questions in the Questionnaire can only result in confusion in the minds of Catholic voters who do not understand that there is no moral equivalence between these two groups of issues."

For the same reasons, people are often confused by Catholic publications and organizational newsletters claiming that in the interest of impartiality they do not take a position in favour or against a political party.

In the case of the Ontario PC, Liberal and NDP parties, party principles and policies are openly and completely against the Catholic position on fundamental issues. However, some Catholic sources deceive Catholic voters into thinking that these parties may be valid alternatives on the basis of other issues, thus missing an opportunity to exercise correct discrimination and clear guidance.

Acton, ON