Pride Organizations Across Canada Express Support for Hamas
The Story: During Canada’s elongated Pride season, LGBTQ organizations across the country have expressed solidarity with Palestine. In some places, Pride Parades have been cancelled altogether due to disruptions from pro-Hamas activists. In Ottawa, Mayor Mark Sutcliffe opted not to participate in the Pride parade—a traditional must-attend event for progressive politicians—after Capital Pride issued a statement of “solidarity with Palestine.”
Mayor Sutcliffe stated that, “this decision by the board, days before the start of Pride, has unfortunately created an atmosphere where many now do not feel welcome to participate.”
The Significance: Many cultural observers have pointed out the absurdity of the blossoming LGBTQ affinity for pro-Palestinian activism: Homosexuality is socially impermissible in Gaza and practicing homosexuals inside the Gaza Strip often face violence. This, then, leads to an obvious and interesting question: why would a group committed to the liberalization of homosexuality laws commit so wholeheartedly to the cause of a “nation” that openly despises homosexuals? The answer is hidden in human rebellion.
Homosexuality, as a behavior, is fundamentally opposed to God’s natural design for sexuality. Islam, as a religion, prohibits homosexuality but is fundamentally opposed to the same creational order that homosexuality is positioned against. Whereas homosexuality exalts the human self by spurning the pattern of God’s design for sexuality, Islam exalts the human self by spurning God’s mercy, triune nature, special revelation, and the biblical place of the Jewish people in God’s redemptive history. The tenuous relationship between Pride organizations and Pro-Hamas activists is complex and likely doomed to failure in the long-run. However, we should not be surprised to see the enemies of God lining up on the same side of the battlefield.
Read More: Courtney Greenberg, The National Post, “Ottawa mayor not attending Capital Pride events after ‘solidarity with Palestine’ statement”
UN: Canada’s Temporary Foreign Workers Program a “Breeding Ground” for Slavery
Canada’s temporary foreign workers program is coming under international scrutiny after a United Nations special rapporteur highlighted it as a “breeding ground” for modern slavery.
While obviously not true of every temporary foreign worker job, the report noted the nature of the program places workers in a precarious position with several factors contributing to a natural breeding ground for abuse.
Workers generally arrive with very little means to begin with and are on a closed permit under which, if they were to be fired, they could be instantly deported. The employers also have almost total control over their housing situation and access to health care. While a good employer might provide good wages, good living conditions, and help with health care access, the program provides no controls to stop bad actors, resulting in many reports of abuse.
The Significance: As Christians, we should be extremely concerned about programs in our nation that give opportunity for the evil of modern slavery to thrive. As people called to love our neighbours, we should be reminded that slavery in the modern world does not look like the photos in our history books and that we should be vigilant to the fact that it is happening all around us and we should not be afraid to speak out when we are concerned.
This story also highlights that political policies have outcomes that may not always seem directly causational but are still deeply connected. The TFW program is an outcome of agricultural policy that forces farmers to hire cheaper labour, of an economy where Canadians can’t purchase homes unless they make over six figures, of a healthcare system that can’t deliver on its promises to citizens or temporary residents, and an immigration system that has pushed platitudes over practicality and at one point didn’t account for one million temporary residents across the country.
We must remember that outcomes such as those with the temporary foreign workers program do not happen in a vacuum. They highlight how vital it is that our nation’s leaders make responsible policies. There are consequences otherwise, sometimes very terrible ones.
Some employers and politicians may see the TFW program as a necessary pipeline for cost effective labour. Some others may only see the high number of temporary residents and complain about our immigration policy. As Christians we should push for responsible immigration and labour policies while keeping in mind the words of Jesus: “Whatever you have done for the least of these, you have done it unto me”.
Read More: The Canadian Press, National Post, “Canada’s foreign worker program ‘breeding ground’ for modern slavery: report”
Quebec Changes Laws to Allow Assisted Suicide Advanced Requests
The Story: Quebec will bypass Criminal Code to allow pre-authorized consent for assisted suicide for people with certain conditions. The Government of Quebec has been pressuring the Federal government for some time to legalize so-called “advanced requests”, but now say they will proceed despite the questionable legal standing.
This so-called “advanced request” would apply to those suffering from diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Disability rights groups such as Toujours Vivant (Not Dead Yet) have raised concerns that this proposal will result in doctors killing patients who wish to withdraw their consent but are deemed to be mentally incapable of doing so, effectively leading to a scenario wherein the patient would be strapped down and lethally injected against their will.
Health Minister Mark Holland’s office released a statement saying that the Liberal government “continues to collaborate with Quebec on this matter.”
The Significance: In a dystopian euphemism, the Quebec panel on so-called “advanced requests” said that someone who has made such a request but then lost the ability to speak “retains the right to receive MAiD”. Yet nowhere do they say that that person retains the right to not be killed. Similarly, they allow an “advocate” to tell doctors that an assisted suicide request has been made for a non-verbal patient, but not to withdraw that request on their behalf.
On the inverse, the panel stated that someone with “cognitive deficits” should not be denied assisted suicide “solely on the basis” of that deficit.
In other words: you’re dead if you do, you’re dead if you don’t.
This is the logical outcome of a culture that fears pain more than it fears the consequences of rejecting God. Our lives are gifts from the Creator of the Universe. Each second we live on this Earth is an opportunity to glorify Him, even in our suffering. As Christians let us preach the value of every life, pointing to the meaning that Christ on the Cross brings to human suffering. Only through His Cross is there the hope of life eternal where there will truly be a world with no pain.
Read More: The Canadian Press, “Quebec to authorize early requests for MAID, won’t wait for Ottawa to change law”
Quick Hits
Federal government funded “Radical Leftist” paper comparing Christians to Skinheads: Spencer Sunshine, a self-described “extra-parliamentary radical leftist” who has spent decades working with anarchists, received federal funding via the “Canadian Anti-Hate Network” (CAHN) to produce a document which compared Christians to neo-Nazis. “40 Ways to Fight the Far-Right” includes Campaign Life Coalition, LifeSite News, Action4Canada, and other pro-life and socially conservative groups with white nationalist groups such as the Vinland Hammerskins as examples of “far right” and “fascist” groups. CAHN received funding for this document through the Ministry of Public Safety despite the group being unmasked as ideologues by journalist and lawyer Caryma Sa’d’s HateGate report. This latest development highlights the necessity for a future Conservative Government to clean house and cut all funding for radical ideologues who use taxpayer funding to toxify Canadian politics.
Read More: Alex Dhaliwal, Rebel News, “Anti-Christian blacklister claims he’s ‘no anarchist’
Incoming Human Rights Commissioner Resigns before starting: The Liberals’ new choice for Human Rights commissioner resigned after an investigation into accusations of anti-semitism concluded that he had omitted social media accounts and work history from his application. The report clarified it was not accusing Dattan of antisemitism, but the fact remains the omitted posts were antisemitic in nature. The question remains how the Liberal government failed to turn up the easily discoverable posts in their vetting process for such a sensitive position, when they have an entire party operation that digs up old tweets and school board meeting notes of their political opponents.
St Catharines repeals by-law targeting pro-life images: A City of St. Catharines by-law that prohibited the distribution of all fetal images—both graphic and non-graphic—has been repealed following heavy pressure and a court challenge from the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA). Speaking on the by-law, ARPA’s lawyer, John Sikkema, stated that “suppressing pro-life speech because some people find it offensive is not a pressing or substantial objective, as the Charter of Rights and Freedoms requires. Rather, in a free and democratic society, is an odious objective.” The repeal of this by-law is a clear victory for the pro-life movement and should be celebrated as such.
A Truth To Consider
When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them, because the Lord your God, who brought you up out of Egypt, will be with you.
Deuteronomy 20:1