“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says….Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - James 1:22,27
2010 Action Challenge: Click here for details and ideas to help us reach the goal of 2010 action items this year. Be sure to record your action items on the action meter. ARPA Canada suggests that you set a personal or family goal of one action item every month. There are always many issues worthy of our attention. The list below reflects the issues that are worthy of our immediate attention. If you have helpful advice about these issues or suggestions for a different one, please contact us.
#1 Action Item: Bill C-510 (Roxanne's Law)
This private member's bill would make it a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion. ARPA Canada urges readers to support this legislation. Click here to learn how.
Anti-Spanking Bill in the Senate
Liberal Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette has once again introduced a private member's bill (S-209) that would repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code which allows parents and teachers to use corporal punishment within reasonable limits. This bill would ban all spanking and corporal punishment with the following exceptions: "preventing or minimizing harm to the child or another person; preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in conduct that is of a criminal nature; preventing the child from engaging or continuing to engage in excessively offensive or disruptive behaviour." Senators and your MP need to be reminded that parents are the authorities who ought to be responsible for the care and discipline of children, not the state. The state should only be involved in cases of abuse. Corporal punishment can be administered in a loving way that is not at all abusive. Click here for contact information for Senators and click here for MP's.
Act Now> Protest the Suppression of Freedom from Human Rights Commissions
Both the provincial and federal human rights commissions have been charging Christians for living their faith. Christian Horizons, an organization that provides care for disabled people in Ontario is the latest victim. But the list is much longer - CHP leader Ron Gray, Pastor Boissoin, and even individuals from our Reformed church community have been charged, often for "inciting hatred" because of comments they said or wrote which are in keeping with our faith. United Mothers, Fathers, and Friends has provided an extensive action alert. Click here to read it and follow up on their suggestions.
BC Corren Agreement> Homosexual Agenda in Schools
The BC government has made a legal agreement with an activist couple that allows for widespread changes to the entire curriculum to promote "gender diversity" and "sexual orientation." ARPA Canada has joined with other groups to produce a new website - www.takebackourschools.org. Check it out to learn more about what can be done in response.
Focus on the Family (USA) has an excellent website - www.truetolerance - aimed at equipping families to respond to the homosexual agenda in schools.
Not Sure what political activity churches may or may not be involved with? Click here.
Looking for tips on how to write a letter to a government official or to your local newspaper? Click here.
REAL Women of Canada Alert, September 2, 2010 Maternal Health Care in Jeopardy:
Loud demands were made last spring by the opposition Liberal Party, feminists and the media that Canada's G-8 policy on Maternal Health Care include abortion services. The federal government resisted these demands by stating that funds provided by Canada ($1.2 billion) would be used for only positive assistance to women and children, which includes clean water, inoculations and better nutrition, as well as the training of health care workers to care for women and deliver babies. However, Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda, has now announced, according to the Ottawa Citizen (September 2, 1010) that:
This is part of Canada Family Action's effort to strengthen Canada's laws against child exploitation. It is a great example of thinking outside of the box to open the eyes of Canadians to an issue that matters. Learn more here.
This spring, MP Rod Bruinooge introduced Bill C-510 which proposes to make it a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion. The law was inspired by Roxanne Fernando, who was brutally murdered for refusing to have an abortion.
ARPA Canada whole-heartedly endorses this legislation both for what it would accomplish in protecting women who desire to safely carry their baby to term and because it is an important first step in encouraging Canada's Parliament to change the absurd status-quo of having absolutely no laws protecting the unborn at any stage or in any circumstances. You can help change this by engaging the discussion, both with our elected leaders and in our communities.
The Patrick Webb Essay Competition 2010-2011: Students Tackle Life Issues (from www.bcptl.org)
The first topic in the Patrick Webb Essay Competition for grades 11-12 secondary students follows from the decisive defeat this year of Bill-384, which would have legalized euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada . What dangers, the students are asked, might have emerged if the bill had been passed. The second topic for the senior secondary students indicates that a number of legislatures in North America are considering “window on the womb” laws that would requite women thinking about abortion to first witness ultrasound pictures of their unborn babies. What, the students are asked, do you think might be the benefit of such laws? Studies have already suggested that such pictures can cause the mother to bond with the child she is carrying.
ARPA Action Note: For more information on this campaign, including videos and action items, go to www.ChildSafeNation.ca. Update from CFAC: Bill C-22 – the Protecting Children from Online Sexual Exploitation Act has been introduced by the government. This bill was from the last session of Parliament that died when the session ended. It is good legislation that needs to be supported by Canadians and all parties. It makes reporting child sexual abuse images mandatory for all Canadians including Internet Service Providers. Please contact your MP and ask them to support this Bill.
This spring, MP Rod Bruinooge introduced Bill C-510 which proposes to make it a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion. Read more about this here. The law was inspired by Roxanne Fernando, who was brutally murdered for refusing to have an abortion. A new website has been created to tell Roxanne's story and build support for this bill. Check it out here. It includes a petition which is available here. Please take the time to print off copies and collect signatures. They can be handed in to either your local MP or Rod Bruinooge.
The Alberta government's Ministry of Health and Wellness is asking Albertans for input into its plans for a new health act. You have an opportunity to get inolved by filling in their survey. Keep in mind the issue of abortion funding that we brought forward last year (see below).
If you live in Ontario, join thousands of others as you take a stand for the unborn in our nation's capital. Before the march for life, a special prayer service will be held at Jubilee Canadian Reformed Church (Meeting at Merivale United Church, 1876 Merivale Road, Nepean) at 10:00 am. Other marches are being held in cities across the country. Click here for more information.
ARPA Action Item: Take action today by sending your MP and Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement a note of support for these funding cuts [Send it to
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,
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, and
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and your MP's contact information is here.
Toronto Star, May 8 2010, OTTAWA—The Harper government is being labelled homophobic for refusing to fund Toronto’s gay pride festival this year. The festival received $400,000 last year from the marquee tourism events program but it won’t get a nickel this year. [Click here to read the many news reports about this.]
The House of Commons has voted down Bill C-384, a bill which proposed to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. Thank you very much to many of you who took action in recent days, months, and even years through prayers, emails to your MP, ads in your newspapers, and special events in your community on this matter. A special thanks goes to Alex Schadenberg, from the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, who worked tirelessly against this bill.
Update: According to the Montreal Gazette, the Prime Mininister's Office has stated that the government will not support this bill.
Toronto Star, April 15 2010: OTTAWA — A Conservative backbencher has come forward with a new bill on abortion, despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s insistence in recent weeks that the abortion debate wouldn’t be reopened in the Commons. Rod Bruinooge, chair of the all-party pro-life caucus in Parliament, has introduced a bill that would penalize anyone who “coerces” a woman into ending her pregnancy against her will. [Keep reading this article here.]
ARPA Note: One of the dissenters is John McKay, who is co-sponsoring the ARPA event in Parliament on May 4. Please send him (
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), Paul Szabo (
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), and Dan McTeague (
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) a note of support and encouragement.
CBC.ca, March 24 2010: Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says members of his caucus who helped defeat the party's own motion on maternal health in the House of Commons will face "internal discipline." Ignatieff's leadership is being questioned over an embarrassing showing Tuesday in the House, where a motion tabled by Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae was defeated in a 144-138 vote. [Continue reading this article here.]
This spring, MP Rod Bruinooge introduced 
ARPA Action Item: Take action today by sending your MP and Federal Industry Minister Tony Clement a note of support for these funding cuts [Send it to
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,
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, and
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and your MP's contact information 
The House of Commons has voted down 
RPA Note: Please pray for the Lord's blessing on this bill. Your efforts will also be needed to defend this legislation with 
ARPA Note: One of the dissenters is John McKay, who is co-sponsoring the ARPA event in Parliament on May 4. Please send him (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
), Paul Szabo (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
), and Dan McTeague (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) a note of support and encouragement.