Charges Expected in Hockey Canada Assault Case
The Story: After a lengthy investigation, London Police have will reportedly lay charges against five members of Canada’s 2018 World Junior Hockey Team who are alleged to have participated in a prolonged group sexual assault of a young woman.
After reporters obtained details of the accusations, a public hearing began and the entire board of Hockey Canada resigned due to significant public pressure.
On Wednesday, reports surfaced that the London Police had directed five players to turn themselves in. Although the five players have not yet been named, further announcements are expected in the coming weeks.
The Significance: For decades, our society has told young men that sexual prowess equals masculinity. Likewise, young women have been taught that to be feminine is to “own your sexuality” (i.e. sleep around and claim it’s fulfilling). The young men who allegedly committed this crime are 100% at fault for their own actions, but this society owns culpability for the teaching these young people received.
Hockey Canada has had its day of reckoning. Formerly respected leaders have had their reputations justifiably destroyed for prioritizing winning and fame over victims. Sadly, they chose to foster a true “toxic masculinity” that says fame and athleticism is license for doing whatever you want—as long as the sponsorships keep coming.
We must reckon with what our society has taught our young people. Would your son be willing to walk into a room where his friends are assaulting a girl and say “stop”? Would your daughter turn up her nose at a future NHL star who would shower her with attention because she knows how she deserves to be treated as a child of God?
Hopefully the judicial process will proceed with fairness and justice will be done—whatever that ultimately means in this particular case. But we must do our part to ensure we raise a generation that understands true masculinity protects rather than exploits, and true femininity understands the incalculable value of every girl.
Read More: Robyn Doolittle, The Globe and Mail, “Five members of 2018 Canadian junior hockey team to face sexual assault charges”
Montreal Pastor Pleads Guilty, BC Activist Arrested in Separate Abuse Cases
The Story: A Montreal pastor has been sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing the 13-year-old-daughter of a church member. Samson Afoakwah, the former pastor of Montreal West Presbyterian Church, will spend no more than eight months in jail, receive two years of probation, and will be removed from the sex offenders’ registry after ten years.
A BC LGBT activist has also been arrested on charges of child sex abuse and child pornography. Sean Gravells, the former president of the North Peace Pride Society, “oversaw ‘teen pride nights’” at a local library, in addition to operating youth sponsorship programs.
The Significance: The tragic story out of Montreal shows the danger of men with wicked intentions abusing legitimate authority. God provides pastors to his church as a gift. However, wolves, sensing an opportunity, may enter this sacred office under false pretenses in order to take advantage of God’s flock. Those men deserve the full weight of human justice—and certainly more than eight months in prison.
Because of this reality, men who are qualified to be elders, according to the qualifications outlined in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1, should deeply consider whether they have been called to serve their congregations as Christ’s undershepherds. If the men who are qualified to serve as pastors are unwilling to do so, evil men will be more than willing to take their place
Likewise, righteous men have an obligation to stand in the gap and fight wicked men who, rather than usurping legitimate authority (such as the office of pastor), have given themselves false authority using invented offices. This is the case with Sean Gravells, who acted as the head of an organization hosting “teen Pride night” under the auspices of sexual liberation.
Some wolves are dressed like sheep. Others are very clearly wolves. Either way, righteous men can stop a great many of them. May they have the courage to do so.
Read More: Great Game India, “President Of Canadian LGBT Organization Arrested On Child Sex Abuse Charges”
Read More: Stephane Giroux, CTV News, “Montreal pastor sentenced 8 months for sexual abuse of 13-year-old girl”
Federal Court Declares Emergencies Act Invocation Unconstitutional
The Story: Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley, a Paul Martin appointee, ruled this week that the Federal Government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy was ultra vires (beyond legal authority) and unreasonable.
The landmark decision states that the Emergencies Act did not meet the high threshold required for invocation, misunderstood legal definitions, and breached Charter rights for “peaceful” Canadians (i.e. those not blocking infrastructure) by freezing bank accounts and blocking access to Parliament Hill.
Immediately after the 150-page verdict was rendered, the Liberals declared that they would appeal the decision.
The Significance: Assuming it is upheld, this ruling will make invoking the Emergencies Act much more politically difficult for future governments. The ruling also means that certain government actions in response to the Convoy will likely be impossible in the future, such as freezing bank accounts without a court order.
The real story, however, is how the Trudeau government severely damaged the legitimacy of the Federal Government.
The authority of a government is owed to God and governments have a responsibility to operate within their allotted jurisdiction. Trudeau’s actions violated this basic principle.
Not only did the Prime Minister spend months demonizing a minority of Canadians for political gain, but he and now-resigned Minister of Justice David Lametti illegitimately turned nearly the full force of the Government against those same people. How many citizens have forever lost trust in banks, police, and the entire political process? What consequences will there be for Parliamentary authority now that a court has once again stepped into the political realm to halt government overreach?
Trudeau and his Ministers will have to answer to the people for their actions in an election. Ultimately, however, God will have the final judgment on how the Prime Minister used the Talents he was given.
Read More: Christopher Nardi, The National Post, “Court rules Liberals’ use of Emergencies Act was unjustified, unreasonable”
Former Justice Minister David Lametti Resigns from Parliament
The Story: Former Justice Minister and Attorney General David Lametti has resigned as the Member of Parliament for his Montreal riding after being removed from Cabinet in July 2023.
Lametti is known for his role in the SNC-Lavalin Scandal, invoking the Emergencies Act, appointing a campaign donor as a judge, and his repeated efforts to block or remove safeguards for assisted suicide while expanding eligibility—including to those whose sole underlying condition is mental illness.
The Significance: David Lametti is likely one of the worst Ministers of modern times. Even though his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act against the Freedom Convoy was declared illegal this week in an unprecedented rebuke of the Federal Government, that was not his greatest failing.
Lametti entered his Ministerial role—following the wrongful removal of Jody Wilson-Raybould—as a well-known advocate for the legalization of assisted suicide. He refused to appeal the Truchon decision, a major Quebec assisted suicide case that removed most of the few safeguards from the original “Medical Assistance in Dying” (MAiD) regime. Further to Truchon, Lametti expanded assisted suicide to those with mental health conditions, a decision that was so egregious the Liberals were forced to implement a one-year delay set to end in March of this year.
Nothing makes Lametti’s extremism clearer than the friends he keeps. “Dying with Dignity Canada,” a key ally of Lametti’s on expanding MAiD, is working behind the scenes to expand assisted suicide to “mature minors.” The group defines “mature minors” as “persons at least 12 years of age and capable of making decisions with respect to their health.”
For all Lametti’s faults, Christians should look to his example for one thing: the effectiveness of a single person in authority convicted of their beliefs. It took one man to cause untold damage. To repair it might seem daunting, but with faith the size of a mustard seed in an Almighty God, it is far from impossible.
Read More: Catherine Lévesque, The National Post, “Former justice minister David resigning as Liberal MP to join law firm”
Canadian Bar Association to Consider Pro-Aborton Resolution
The Story: The Canadian Bar Association will debate a proposed pro-abortion resolution during their upcoming annual general meeting (AGM). The amendment’s sponsor, Jennifer Taylor, stated that, “abortion rights and access are inextricably tied to gender equity and justice, and fit squarely within the CBA’s mission to promote equity in the justice system.” A separate resolution would demand the repeal of “policies that deny appropriate protections, safety and dignity [for transgender children] including policies that mandate disclosure of identities or exploration without the student’s consent.”
The Significance: Although membership in the Canadian Bar Association is voluntary for lawyers everywhere but New Brunswick (unlike the provincial bar associations which control credentialing), the CBA still functions as Canada’s leading professional legal association and represents 38,000 Canadian lawyers. Should the proposed resolutions receive approval from the Association, the priorities of many of Canada’s lawyers will become obvious.
Significantly, the sponsor of the CBA’s pro-abortion resolution appeals to the idea of “equity” as a reason for the CBA’s acceptance of pro-abortionism. The subversive nature of this term’s use should be understood. Of course, we affirm the equality of every human being. In fact, abortion itself is an example of what goes wrong when true equality is abandoned. However, the phrase “equity” appears to affirm the functional equality of every human being rather than the intrinsic equality of every human being. In this belief, authority structures—such as parents, governments, and churches—become enemies of human equality rather than God-ordained institutions for human flourishing. Everyone must be the “master of their own destiny” and “equity” will help destroy the natural barriers prohibiting the fulfillment of this destiny.
The “law” these lawyers are seeking to defend is not the moral law of God as revealed in Scripture, or even the law of Canada, but the false law of the human heart that prefers “equity” over righteousness. If the Canadian Bar Association chooses to do what is right in their own eyes rather than what is right according to the unchanging standards of Scripture, Canada’s law will lose any connection to the perfect law of God.
Read More: CBA National, “Proposed resolutions focus on abortion rights and protections for the gender diverse”
Quick Hit
Edmonton City Hall shooter allegedly motivated by “genocide in Gaza”: An Edmonton man who hurled a molotov cocktail and fired multiple shots inside Edmonton City Hall appears to have been motivated by what he called the “genocide in Gaza.” Thankfully, the man was stopped by a brave security guard before anyone was injured. When the government can’t choose a side between our allies and the terrorists embedded in Gaza, they fuel the false narrative that has caused multiple young men to attempt terrorist attacks on Canadian soil. The Federal Government must pick a side.
Read More: Isaac Lamoureux, TrueNorth, ”Alleged Edmonton City Hall shooter takes aim at “genocide” in Gaza in Video: report”
A Truth To Consider
