This Thursday, Canada lost two prescient and moral giants. Rex Murphy, 77, was one of Canada’s most well-known columnists, radio hosts and commentators. Even as his health rapidly declined, Murphy continued to speak the truth—churning out article after article even as he knew his life was nearing its end. For 21 years, he hosted Cross-Country Check-Up, a flagship CBC program that demonstrated genuine and respectful cross party dialogue. Murphy set a rare example of honest and bold journalism that should be as inspiring as it will be missed.
On Thursday, we also said goodbye to constitutional lawyer and pro-life advocate Albertos Polizogopoulos. Without national fame or notoriety, Albertos spent his life fighting for life, for freedom, and for the dignity of all. While Polizogopoulos presented before the Supreme Court of Canada on notable cases including Trinity Western University vs BC Law Society his legacy is most felt in the thousands of hours of pro-bono work he did for churches and nonprofits, furthering the fight for life, the defense of dignity, and the religious freedom of his fellow man.
This edition of the Dominion Report is dedicated to not just Rex and Albertos, but also all the Canadians who pick up their fight for truth, freedom, and life.
Thousands of Canadians Participate in Annual March for Life
The Story: Approximately 3,000-4,000 Canadians participated in the annual March for Life in Ottawa on Thursday. The March, which has taken place since 1998, included speeches from American pro-life activist Abby Johnson and pro-life Conservative MPs Arnold Viersen and Cathay Wagantall.
Shortly before the March began, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted, “your right to choose shouldn’t depend on your income. So, we’re going to make contraceptives free in Canada.” The Prime Minister’s coalition partner, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, attended a counter protest of the event. Marches for life also took place on Thursday in Edmonton, Regina, and Victoria.
The Significance: Although thousands of pro-life Canadians demonstrating their opposition to abortion at marches across the country is an encouraging sign, the continued necessity of these protests is a sad reminder that abortion continues to claim the lives of nearly 300 preborn Canadians every day. The March’s location in front of Canada’s Parliament and provincial legislatures is a reminder that this extreme death toll is the result of the failure of these bodies to execute justice in accordance with their divinely given mandate.
Politicians who attended these marches—including Arnold Viersen and Cathay Wagantall—should be applauded, and encouraged as they attempt to promote life in a world that craves death. As we make supplications for the many unfaithful politicians in Canada, we should thank God and pray earnestly for the few that have remained faithful to their God-given responsibilities.
Read More: Élie Cantin-Nantel, True North, “Pro-life Canadians descend on Parliament Hill to demand end to abortion”
Christian Pro-Life Group Wins Case Against City of Hamilton
The Story: The Association of Reformed Political Action (ARPA Canada) has successfully challenged the City of Hamilton’s attempt to prevent pro-life ads from running on public transit vehicles. As a result, the group’s anti-sex selective abortion ads are now running on the sides of city’s buses. The City conceded prior to Court arguments that they did not have sufficient grounds to block the ads and, as a result, an Ontario Divisional Court panel rescinded the city’s decision. In a statement to LifeSiteNews, ARPA’s legal counsel John Sikkema said, “Hamilton took a while to complete its ‘reconsideration’ of our bus ad after the Court quashed its decision to reject the ad in 2021. It was April of this year when the ad finally went up on buses,” Sikkema told LifeSiteNews. We think it is important for people to see this ad because it raises awareness of the reality of sex-selective abortion, a practice which the vast majority of Canadians oppose.” Most Canadians also don’t know that preborn children can be aborted for any reason in Canada and at any gestational age.”
The Significance: If ARPA’s faithfulness in challenging an unjust city ordinance is a model for Christian social engagement, their success should be a reminder that success is possible—even in Canada. Although there are so many reasons to be discouraged about the state of Canadian politics and the rampant wickedness of our culture, those groups that do demonstrate faithful engagement in the public square often end up with many more successes that at first seemed possible. While temporal success is never promised, we do believe that the God who fights our battles may be pleased to strengthen the work of our hands and have mercy on our country through the hard work of faithful men and women. Thank God that he has provided such men and women to our nation.
Read More: Clare Marie Merkowsky, LifeSiteNews, “Pro-life ad appears on transit buses after group prevails in legal wrangling with Ontario city”
Conservative Leader Hints at Willingness to Invoke Notwithstanding Clause
The Story: Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has hinted that he would use the Notwithstanding Clause to defend bail reform. Speaking to the Canadian Police Association, Poilievre made several policy announcements including stricter bail eligibility requirements and reforms to prevent murderers from being moved to lower security prisons.
Speaking on these proposals, he said: “All of my proposals are constitutional. We will make them constitutional, using whatever tools the Constitution allows me to use to make them constitutional. I think you know exactly what I mean.”
Poilievre had previously committed to using the constitutionally-granted power to override the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down consecutive life sentences for mass murders.
The Significance: Since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed in 1982, Canadian courts have chipped away at the Judeo-Christian foundation of our legal system. The Supreme Court invented for itself a power which they fallaciously call the “Living Tree” to unilaterally find new “rights” such as gay marriage and abortion.
Over 40-plus years of judicial activism, liberal elites have done everything in their power to discredit the constitutional tool meant to prevent that very blight. Section 33 of the Charter, commonly called the Notwithstanding clause, allows the legislature to override judicial review of legislation. It has been used provincially—most recently by Saskatchewan to defend Parental Rights—but never by the federal government.
If it were merely to return the balance of power to the legislatures, Poilievre’s willingness to use Section 33 would be worth celebrating. That he is promising to use it to ensure justice is simply icing on the cake.
Read More: Stéphane Sérafin, The National Post, “Only because of our activist Supreme Court is the notwithstanding clause necessary”
Federal Government Constructs LGBT Monument
The Story: This week, Canadian politicians officially broke ground on a national monument for “LBGTQRS+ Canadians.” The Monument, which was mandated by the Federal Courts, will be built behind the Supreme Court and is intended to “commemorate and honour the victims of Canada’s LGBTQ2S+ purge and others in the community who have been marginalized for who they are.”
The Significance: There are instances in history when human beings have been abused, harmed, or mistreated in many ways due to their sexual behaviors and identities. On this, we must be clear: mistreating or abusing God’s image bearers is always wrong. However, the reality is that the lines between differences of opinion and actual abuse have been purposely blurred to build a false narrative around the history of “non-binary oppression.”
Christians may wonder what harm there is in the construction of a monument to simply honour the LGBTQ community. The reality, however, is that efforts like this only normalize the mainstream narrative around LGBTQ issues—particularly on subjects such as transgender affirmation. On this, the Liberal government recently admitted that not a single study backed up their claim that transgender Canadians committ suicide at higher rates.
Sadly, this story also follows an the launch of an investigation by BC’s children Ministry after a 14-year-old disabled girl was found performing provocative dances in LGBTQ bars in Vancouver—Something that was not only organized and promoted by her mother but also posted online. Beyond the shameful and, possibly criminal actions of her mother, the owners and attendees of these establishments surely knew that this girl was a minor and yet nobody said anything until the performances were posted online.
Our nation appears to be building a monument to the fact that our country has placed the sexual desires of adults over the safety and well-being of young children.
Read More: William Eltherington CTV News Construction begins on LGBTQ2S+ national monument in Ottawa
A Truth to Consider
