November 22nd Quick Update
Hello everyone! Here’s another quick update video on what’s been going on these last few weeks. This one includes the passing of doctors’ conscience protection legislation in Manitoba, ARPA board meetings, the passing of Bill 24 in Alberta, the Trinity Western University case, and a new ARPA Policy Report. For full details on these updates, watch the video above or read on for a transcript of what I say in it.
To read the document “Protect Them All: A Christian case for eliminating lists of special identity groups in school policies”, I reference in the video, click here.
For ARPA‘s Policy Report on In Vitro Fertilization, click here.
***TRANSCRIPT BELOW***
Hello ARPA Supporters,
It’s the third week of November, and I have another Quick Update for you for this week.
Fantastic news out of Manitoba: their Legislature passed conscience protections for doctors. The ARPA Canada Board meetings are happening as I speak here in Ottawa, some of the Board members are milling about behind me. Bill 24 has passed in Alberta, and there’s some important things to note there. The Trinity Western Case in the Supreme Court will be heard next week, and ARPA released their newest policy report on In-Vitro Fertilization.
Let me give a bit more detail on each of those.
First, Bill 34 was introduced in Manitoba as a response to the legalization of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada. It was intended to protect the rights of medical professionals to refuse to assist in killing anyone. This Bill passed the Manitoba legislature unanimously a few weeks ago with the NDP opposition supporting it as well. This is great news for Manitoban doctors. By contrast the policy in Ontario requires doctors to provide someone who requests euthanasia or assisted suicide with an effective referral to another doctor if they refuse to carry out the killing themselves. Manitoba’s government can be commended for showing leadership in protecting these rights and we hope to see this repeated across the country.
Second, ARPA Canada’s board is meeting here in Ottawa this week for their annual meetings. The board is made up of volunteers from across the country who sacrifice their time for this organization. For many of them, this meeting is an opportunity to see our offices in Ottawa and to interact with some of our new staff here. Please pray for guidance in their meetings this week.
Third, Bill 24 in Alberta was a bill that denied information to parents about gay straight alliance clubs and their children’s attendance in those clubs. It sent a very bad message to Albertan parents that the State considers parents to be detrimental to the safety of their own children, particularly if the parents have religious values. Thus the state apparently needs to protect your children and give them an environment in which they can be sheltered from their parents from these issues. Because other organizations like JCCF and PCE put out legal analysis and talking points we were able to focus primarily on the grassroots angle. Supporters like yourselves made a huge push over the first two weeks of November, releasing 400 radio ads from Lethbridge to Edmonton, hundreds of thousands of social media ads, over 3200 emails to MLAs, and hundreds of phone calls to MLAs offices and the Education Minister. While Bill 24 did pass, we’re confident that you sent a strong message to the Legislature that you were very concerned about the message this bill was sending. If you’re looking for more information and resources on protecting yourself and your school community anywhere in Canada with relation to these issues, we recently produced a document entitled ‘Protect them All: A Christian case for eliminating lists of Special identity groups in School Policies.’ You can find a PDF link below this video, or on our website in the resources section.
Fourth, Trinity Western University’s law school is at the Supreme Court next week. On November 30th and December 1st ARPA will be given opportunity to provide oral arguments in the case. Essentially the Law School has been approved in all provinces, with the exception of BC and Ontario. The Courts of Appeal in those provinces released two opposing decisions, and the appeals are being brought jointly before the Supreme Court. At the core of the discussion is the community covenant that TWU holds its staff and students to a standard of Biblical lifestyle. Please pray for wisdom for the judges so that a good ruling is made that protects Christian communities to live their faith publicly without compromise.
Finally, ARPA has released its latest policy report on In-vitro fertilization. It is available on our website in PDF form or in the link below this video.
And that’s all for this week. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to let me know at [email protected].
