The future of Canada: the election--Part V: Section A.

This section, like the previous issues', attempts to discover the larger trends in Canadian social and political life.

First, in the recent Quebec election, Mario Dumont's more conservative party, the ADQ, went From 5 seats in the National Assembly to 41 and took second place. This may be a sign that the long winter of extreme secularism in Quebec is coming to an end.

Second, the Liberals' push For making prostitution legal indicates that this party continues to walk in moral darkness.

Third, as For the New Democratic Party, its philosophy is beyond words. We offer two examples here. For our view of the Green Party, see Catholic Insight, February 2007, p. 28.

1. POLITICAL SEA-CHANGE IN QUEBEC IN FAVOUR OF FAMILIES

Quebec City-Quebec politics took a sharp shift to the right in the March 26, 2007, provincial election, as Mario Dumont's Action Democratique Quebec party surged from five seats to 41 and replaced the Parti Quebecois as the official opposition.

Bucking the left-liberal-socialist orientation that has held sway in Quebec politics for years, the ADQ has advocated policies such as a cash allowance for parents who prefer to keep their children at home; mixed health care, private and public; the abolition of school boards; a tougher criminal justice system; lower taxes; and a reduction in the size of the provincial bureaucracy. In his victory speech, Dumont promised to deliver on a platform favouring families, the middle class, and diminished powers of the state.

"After campaigning on the theme of the family, I'm very proud to see the ADQ family grown so much tonight," he said.

Although Jean Charest's Liberals suffered a heavy blow in the election, being reduced to minority status, the biggest loser was Patti Quebecois leader Andre Boisclair, the first openly homosexual leader of a major North American political party. The PQ suffered the most resounding defeat in its history and some observers chalked the result up, at least partially, to Boisclair's sexual proclivities.

"Perhaps Quebec is not ready for a gay premier," mused Tasha Kheiriddin, co-author of the book Rescuing Canada's Right: Blueprint for a Conservative Revolution. Her views were echoed by the Globe and Malts Konrad Yakabuski: "Mr. Boisclair and his party may well have over-estimated Quebecers' readiness to elect an openly gay premier" (Mar. 3, 2007).

Even a PQ candidate admitted the same. "We have to ask ourselves whether Quebecers, generally, are ready to live with homosexuality," said Rachel Gagnon, who lost in the riding of Groulx, north of Montreal.

"It was evident that people were fed up," added winning ADQ candidate Gilles Taillon. "I sensed it on the ground" (LifeSiteNews.com, Mar. 27, 2007; Montreal Gazette, Mar. 27, 2007).

Saguenay radio host Louis Champagne may have articulated the sentiments of common citizens when, on the air prior to the election, he proclaimed the PQ "a club of fags" and said local factory workers wouldn't vote for a 'gay' leader. (Champagne was later suspended by his employer, Corus Quebec.)

Boisclair did not help his cause on several occasions. He participated in a silly parody of the homosexual cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain with actors portraying Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President George W. Bush. He flirted with then-in-the-closet homosexual Dany Turcotte on Radio-Canada's Tout le monde en parle program. He frequently showed up at artistic events, talking explicitly about sexual activities.

Boisclair especially erred when he suggested it was time to take the Catholic crucifix out of the provincial legislature to reflect the province's alleged secularism (Gay365.com, Mar. 27, 29, 2007).

Jean Morse-Chevrier, president of the Catholic Parents' Association of Quebec and a director of the Catholic Civil Rights League, said the strengthened position of the ADQ may make the province's leaders more receptive to religious freedom in the schools. Her association has been demanding that parents have the right to choose Catholic or Protestant religious instruction for their children, and instruction in other faiths where numbers warrant, instead of the provincial government's Ethics and Religious Culture program, which is to be implemented in September. The association's demands have been backed up by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, Archbishop of Quebec City, who says parents should have the right to choose denominational education within a publicly funded system (CCRL, Mar. 29, 2007).

Another major factor in the election result was voter disenchantment with the two mainline parties, whose secular social policies have successively led Quebec into a position in which its birthrate is at a standstill, forcing the population to age dramatically. Rising taxes and lengthy waits for health care have been just two manifestations of this state of affairs. Another anti-family feature of the Left was late-term abortions.

In 2004, it was revealed that Quebec women were travelling to the United States for late-term (more than six months' gestation) abortions at a cost to taxpayers of about $5,000 each. Quebec Health Minister Philippe Couillard pledged to make late-term abortions available in his province. He sent Canadian physicians to the U.S. for training in late-term abortion. In 2006, a well-known Quebec pediatrician, Dr. Jean-Francois Chicoine, revealed that very late-term abortions were taking place at an undisclosed location in downtown Montreal.

The Charest government has also been a great disappointment in not appealing a court order to pay out $13 million to women who have undergone abortions in the province (LifeSiteNews.com, Feb. 22, 2007).

Calgary Sun columnist Licia Corbella linked the Quebec election result with developments at the federal level, where the policies of Stephen Harper's government parallel those of the ADQ on a number of fiscal and social issues. "The rise of 'Super Mario' ... clearly appeals to the same voters Harper relies on," she said (Calgary Sun, Mar. 28, 2007).

National Post columnist Father Raymond De Souza responded to fears that the Duplessis era of a "priest-ridden" culture was possibly making a comeback. "The Quiet Revolution so devastated the Church that not even the parishes of Quebec are priest-ridden anymore," he half-joked. "To the contrary, the last major intervention of the bishops of Quebec in public life was to support the secularization of the Quebec schools."

De Souza added that the supposed virtues of the Quiet Revolution have been dispelled by the realities, 48 years after the death of Duplessis: "Quebecers pay high taxes, have an enormous provincial debt, and are dissatisfied with the quality of their public services, health care primary among them. Economically, Quebec is near the bottom of productivity and economic growth in North America. Even the sainted Lucien Bouchard has publicly spoken about the need for dramatic change" (Apr. 5, 2007).

On May 8, 2008, Boisclair resigned as PQ leader, creating new opportunities both inside and outside his party.

2. SAY NO TO LEGAL PROSTITUTION

WHAT CONTINUES TO BE WRONG WITH THE LIBERALS

Ottawa--On December 13, 2006, the Subcommittee on Solicitation Laws of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights tabled its report on prostitution in Canada. The Conservative Party was the only party in the Commons to oppose making prostitution legal.

A Conservative member on the committee, Maurice Vellacott (Saskatoon-Wanuskewin), noted: "The Conservative Party makes it clear in the report that we do not support liberalizing our laws on prostitution. The Conservative Party is the only party in the Commons that is not advocating the legalization of prostitution." He accused the opposition parties of being:

"willing to allow the exploitation, abuse and F violence that go hand-in-hand with prostitution ... Women are not objects to be commodified. Endorsing prostitution sends a destruc tive message to Canadian women and young girls. It also sends a perverse message to men about how females are to be treated ... prostitution is exploitive on every level and women and young girls are not for sale" (Media release, Mr. Vellacott's office).

National Post and Toronto Star

The legislative committee did not reach an agreement. This the National Post (Dec. 15, 2006) labeled "lamentable." It thought that "outdated" moral reasoning should take a back seat to a legal one: "Let's not let an anachronistic moral prudery prevent the country from making the most intelligent policy decision possible."

The Toronto Star was equally supportive of making prostitution legal. Alan Young, of Toronto's Osgoode Hall Law School (at York University) maintained in a Star article that the criminal law in Canada is, in large part, responsible for the women prostitutes who are killed each year as they ply their trade. He said, "As more and more prostitutes disappear, we must start to question the value of a law that allows one to work as a prostitute, but denies the worker all the various protections relating to occupational health and safety." He also questioned society's "sanitized" version of sex, its "sacred, Hallmark card approach." In his estimation, "in a pluralistic, secular society, the sanitized and sanctified vision of sexuality is just one of many competing moral perspectives" (Jan. 19, 2007).

As it turns out, this same Alan Young is the chief legal counsel for a new organization started by three prostitutes. When the federal Conservative government eliminated funding for the Court Challenges Program, social activists no longer had access to public funding to push their causes in the courts. So, to the prostitutes' rescue came Osgoode Hall, led by pro bono law professor Young, four other lawyers, and a contingent of volunteer law students to whet their legal training on this dubious social cause.

The prostitutes, under their association's name Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), together with their lawyers have launched a constitutional challenge to strike down three offending provisions of the Criminal Code, which "prevent sex workers from working in a safe and secure environment; ... which deprive sex workers of their right to liberty and security in a manner that is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice" (quoted from the SPOC website).

Although prostitution itself is not strictly illegal in Canada, three sections of the Criminal Code of Canada ultimately make it illegal: section 210-operation of a bawdy house; section 212 (1)(j)--living on the avails of prostitution; and section 213 (1)(c)--communication for the purpose of prostitution.

The SPOC group is casting prostitutes as just another group in society trying to make an honest living. Being called 'sex trade workers' instead of 'prostitutes' makes their 'profession' sound like a blue-collar trade union. Toronto's Star and Globe now only use this description. Their name--Sex Professionals of Canada--pushes this image even further: people who go to work with brief cases, in which are tucked reports to be assessed, journals to be read, and maybe even a packed lunch. Their website is smart, well-written and informative.

In a web section headed "Be a good date," a Miss Manners wannabe outlines the manners required to interact with a "sex trade" worker. For those interested, it includes showering, shaving, and brushing one's teeth before the "date." There are dos and don'ts of the profession, like "no condom negotiations, please. We use condoms without exception so we can all go home healthy and happy ... So let the pro guide the sex, follow her lead; you'll have a much better time." (Sounds like a trip to Disneyworld, doesn't it?--We all hold hands so we don't get lost, we don't touch or eat anything that might make us sick, and we always say "please.") It is just too bad that condoms do not thoroughly prevent venereal diseases.

Also included on the website are lists of undesirable clients; photos of bad clients; tips for prostitutes on how to file an income tax form (including tax deductions for items such as cosmetics, cosmetic surgery, clothing, condoms, implements such as sex toys, and transportation); how to apply for RRSPs; CPP pension contributions; and lists of relevant conferences and speakers. You can also order an SPOC t-shirt and make a donation to the cause.

What is the truth?

Legalizing prostitution only succeeds in keeping women in an inherently dangerous lifestyle. Statistics Canada reports show that between 1991 and 2004, 171 female prostitutes were killed. The goal should be to try to move women and girls out of this dangerous and demeaning lifestyle, not make it easier for more women to be preyed upon.

The international slave trade in women

As Canada, and some other countries, are being challenged to 'de-criminalize' prostitution, the international side shows what a seamy 'business' it is. There is an international trade in women and children for sexual exploitation; it is, in fact, a modern version of slavery. A report issued recently by the Bishops' Conference in India reveals that 2.3 million Indians, mostly women, have been trafficked in the last 10 years. One of the primary reasons for the surge in this activity is poverty, which often forces parents to give away their children. The bishops also cite a U.N. report that among India's prostitutes--also estimated at 2.3 million--some 40% are not even 18 years old.

The American State Department is urging Canada to be more forceful in combatting trafficking, noting that Canada's comprehensive laws have, up to now, produced few results. Meanwhile, the British government is slowly coming to the realization that trafficking in humans, especially women forced into prostitution, is on the rise. Especially grave are the large number of women who are imported to Britain from other countries; they are forced into prostitution to pay for their fare, and then are reduced to a life of drugs, alcohol and other addictions to ensure that they will never be able to escape prostitution.

A new Canadian parliamentary report highlights the need to combat poverty--especially poverty among Canada's aboriginals--as a key to "ensuring that vulnerable women and children don't fall prey to traffickers" (Tor. Star, Feb. 27, 2007).

The RCMP reports that about 800 women and children are brought into Canada each year to be put into the "sex industry," while between 1,500 and 2,200 others are moved through Canada into the United States. Human trafficking has been condemned in Parliament as "the dark underbelly" of global trade.

The parliamentary report will, it is hoped, move into a national strategy "to prevent trafficking and protect victims on an issue that cuts across provincial and international borders."

It is hard to understand how certain media are willing to face the issue of international trade in humans, while ignoring the plight of women and children in Canada who are just as deserving of such protection, and then proposing to enhance and enlarge prostitution by making it legal.

3. DO NOT VOTE NDP 

Ottawa--The federal NDP has manifested its pro-abortion stance again with a press release April 2, 2007, that expressed alarm over what it sees as "alarming lows" in access to "necessary" abortion procedures.

Although almost 110,000 surgical abortions are committed annually in Canada, at a cost of one billion dollars, NDP health critic Penny Priddy and women's critic Irene Mathyssen, in reacting to a report by the pro-abortion group Canadians For Choice, described themselves as "outraged" over the situation. "There is an underlying issue of women's rights," said Mathyssen. "Women fought long and hard for the 'right to choose' and that 'right' is in jeopardy."

Falsehoods

The release claimed that all women in Canada have a right to abortion services under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and within the framework of the Canada Health Act. In fact, abortion and 'reproductive rights' are not mentioned in the Charter, while the Canada Health Act does not mandate that abortions be provided or funded.

The NDP's latest pro-abortion rally comes as no surprise to Canadian pro-life advocates. Party leader Jack Layton has been a notorious pro-abortion firebrand since his days as a Toronto city councillor, when he could be seen prancing around sites of pro-life protests, encouraging the police to arrest pro-life demonstrators.

Pro-abortion and pro-same-sex 'marriage' positions are official NDP policy, making it problematic for a faithful Catholic to vote for any one of its candidates. Joe Comartin, the Catholic NDP MP for Windsor-Tecumseh, ON, recently proposed an amendment to legislation that would have lowered the legal age of consent for sodomy to 16, from the current Canadian legal age of 18.

The move was supported by homosexual lobbyists, including EGALE Canada, the Canadian Federation For Sexual Health (formerly Planned Parenthood) and the Canadian AIDS Society. Fortunately, Conservative Party committee chairman Art Hanger decided to disallow 

Comartin's amendment. Comartin complained that his amendment had been unfairly dismissed. He said he was prepared to argue that the provision for anal sex was, in fact, within the scope of the bill. He also said he is filing a private member's bill to remove from the Criminal Code Section 159, which sets an age of consent for anal sex (LifeSiteNews, Mar. 29, 2007; Xtra.ca, Apr. 19, 2007).

Comartin was previously barred by Bishop Ronald Fabbro of London from continuing to give marriage preparation classes in his parish until he bought his beliefs on same-sex 'marriage' (which he supported) and related issues into line with the teacchings of the Church (LifeSiteNews, Mar. 29, 2007).

In 2005, Comartin complained on behalf of homosexual activists about Bill C-2, the Paul Martin government's legislation aimed at clamping down on child porn. He claimed "excesses" in the bill would seriously hamper the "freedom of artists and writers" and discriminate against "the rights of teens to choose their own sexual expressions" (Capital Xtra, June 16, 2005).

4. AGE OF CONSENT BILL ON TRACK TOWARD PASSAGE

Ottawa--A Conservative government bill to raise the age of consent for sexual activity from 14 to 16 (when the older person is five or more years older) is on track toward passage in the House of Commons. Bill C-22, originally tabled by former Justice Minister Vic Toews in June 2006, survived an attempt at amendment during the committee stage, which included a proposal to lower the age of consent for anal sex from 18 to 16. The bill is now moving to third and final reading and even homosexual groups are acknowledging it will likely pass.

Advocates of the bill, who include police, child protection groups, family organizations, churches and para-church groups, say a higher age of consent will better protect children from sexual exploitation by adult predators and pimps. In 2002, police reported 8,800 sexual assaults perpetrated against youth or children in Canada (LifeSiteNews, Nov. 7, 2006).

Opponents of the bill, who include Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere, the Canadian AIDS Society and the Canadian Federation for Sexual Health (previously known as Planned Parenthood), argue the bill is "anti-sex," "dangerous," a "regressive move to repress and criminalize youth sexuality" and an "attack on youth rights and sexual freedom" (Press release, June 23, 2007).

The attempt to lower the age of consent at the committee stage was led by Joe Comartin; however, Brian Murphy (L-Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe, NB), Carole Freeman (BQ-Chateauguay-Saint-Constant, QC), Marlene Jennings (L-Notre-Dame-de-Grace-Lachine, QC) and Real Menard (BQ-Hochelaga, QC) also supported it. Comartin is vowing he will put forth a private member's bill to remove age of consent passages from the Criminal Code entirely (Xtra.ca, April 19, 2007).

The pro-life youth group 4MYCanada, which monitored the committee hearings, congratulated MPs Larry Bagnell (L-Yukon) and Derek Lee (L-Scarborough-Rouge River, ON) for supporting rejection of the amendments, even though they are not members of the governing party (LifeSiteNews.com, April 19, 2007).

Canada Family Action Coalition executive director Brian Rushfeldt says his organization has been calling for a raised age of consent for eight years and has collected 500,000 signatures on a petition to that end. He is thanking Prime Minister Stephen Harper, as well as Vic Toews and current Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, for their support of the bill (Press release, April 2007).

Douglas Cryer, director of public policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, reported he "had difficulty" with some of the discussion and language employed by opponents of the bill, especially EGALE, during committee hearings. He recalled EGALE tried to argue that the age of consent in Canada has been 14 since 1890. But another witness countered that homosexuality was illegal in 1890, "so he should not be so quick to argue for the status quo" (Christianity.ca, undated).

Articles by Tony Gosgnach and Fr. Alphonse De Valk, C.S.B.