The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada has been engaged on the issue of international religious persecution for a long time. For over a decade, the EFC and others have encouraged the development of an office that would deal with the persecution of religious minorities in countries around the world as an important component of Canada’s intentionality… Read More
As published in the National Post, April 8, 2011 Social conservatives “have become a spent political force in [Canadian] national politics,” according to Queen’s University political-science scholar James Farney. “We’re now just seen as eccentric,” suggested Link Byfield, a prominent Canadian “so-con” himself. On the front page of the April 5 National Post, a story… Read More
News Release April 1, 2011 In the strongest terms the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) condemns the senseless killings of United Nations workers in Afghanistan by those who were protesting the burning of the Qur’an by Terry Jones. Dr. Geoff Tunnicliffe, Chief Executive Officer/Secretary General of the WEA, speaking on behalf of 600 million Christians, stated,… Read More
Media Release March 31, 2011OTTAWA – The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) will be presenting arguments to the Supreme Court of Canada on a case to be heard May 18, 2011. S.L., et al. v. Commission scolaire des Chênes, et al., a case originating in Quebec, will address the issue of whether parents have the… Read More
Stuff happens, but sometimes it’s handy to have a calendar. On the morning of Saturday, March 26, MP David McGuinty (Ottawa South) was being interviewed prior to Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s (MP, Calgary Southwest) meeting with Governor General David Johnston. The government had been defeated in the House of Commons the afternoon before and one… Read More
A woman walks into a flower shop and says she’s getting married. Sounds like the beginning to a bad joke, but in reality this was the beginning to a bad experience … for the flower shop owner. In fact, the events actually unfolded via email when the bride-to-be contacted the home based florist, who orders… Read More
On Monday evening (March 7) I attended my first Requiem Mass. Hosted by Minister Jason Kenney and the Saint Thomas More Society of parliamentarians, the service began one month to the hour from my initial meeting of Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s federal Minister for Minorities who was assassinated – martyred for his faith – in a… Read More
The phrase “politics makes for strange bedfellows,” originally stated as “misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows” (Shakespeare, The Tempest), crossed my mind in reflecting on some events of recent days. One part of this blog actually flows from the Valentine’s Day blog (who could resist tying Valentine’s Day to “strange bedfellows”?) about the CBC… Read More
A little over a week ago, I met with a marked man. Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities, is the first Christian invited into Pakistan’s cabinet – and remaining after last week’s cabinet shuffle reduced its size from 60 to 22 ministers. His responsibilities place him near the top of the list for those publicly… Read More
In Ottawa, last week was not a banner week for reason in regard to religion. The CBC Radio-Canada television plumbed new depths in their program Enquête, with journaliste Brigitte Bureau creating “news” rather than reporting the news with a half hour documentary attack on select Christians engaging in the public square, particularly with Parliament. Bloc… Read More