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05 Feb 2021 Why is ARPA Canada Advocating for In-Person Worship Services During a Pandemic?

Posted at 15:07h in Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
13 Likes

Those who follow ARPA Canada’s work will know that government-imposed COVID-19 restrictions have received a lot of attention from us over the last year. We expect this to continue into 2021 as we seek to intervene in a variety of court cases with a specific focus on the restrictions limiting or prohibiting in-person worship services. Almost a year has passed since the first lockdowns in March of 2020, and Christians in most of the provinces in Canada are currently forbidden by their provincial government from taking part in corporate worship. Through...

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06 May 2021 Every Political Issue Requires A Biblical Perspective

Posted at 16:02h in Public Theology 0 Comments
0 Likes

ARPA Canada exists to bring a biblical perspective to our civil authorities. We give great attention to some issues – abortion, euthanasia, fundamental freedoms, Christian education, and gender and sexuality – a bit of attention to other issues – criminal justice, the environment, economics, and multiculturalism – and little attention to many other issues, such health care, poverty, and homelessness. This organizational focus on some issues and lack of attention on others is not because only certain issues are worthy of Christians’ attention. We confess that God is sovereign over all...

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05 May 2021 Ontario Bill 203 – More Than a Visitor

Posted at 12:50h in Bills and Motions, Elder Care 0 Comments
3 Likes

COVID-19 has had a devastating effect on congregate care settings, not just in terms of the rapid spread of the virus but also in the banning of visitors, including those who had been active participants in the care or support of a loved one. While exceptions have been made, the ability to visit and care for loved ones in congregate care settings has been severely hampered. A new bill introduced by Ontario NDP MPP Lisa Gretzky is looking to fix this and to set up the province for a better response...

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04 May 2021 COVID-19 Fact Sheet

Posted at 12:00h in Justice and Freedom 0 Comments
18 Likes

Updated March 4, 2021   Information about COVID-19 abounds. Whether you are perusing the local newspaper, scrolling through social media, or talking to friends, COVID-19 dominates discussions. However, all this information is rarely presented in a single place or presented in an easy-to-understand way. Sometimes, different friends or news stories may report very different facts. We have created this fact sheet in response to the many questions around COVID-19. We hope it will be a helpful resource for individual supporters, parents, church councils, and business owners to inform their response to the virus....

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29 Apr 2021 Abortion: A Federal Budget Priority

Posted at 16:58h in Abortion, Blog, Economics 0 Comments
0 Likes

By Daniel Zekveld A government budget tells us what their current priorities are. This year’s Federal budget shows multiple priorities for the government in the upcoming months. Among other details listed, the government includes a section which focuses on ‘Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health Care Information and Services.’ It’s not very long, but there are a number of items in this section that stand out. The government treats abortion (as a part of ‘sexual and reproductive health care') as something which Canada needs to support wholeheartedly and provide unfettered access...

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26 Apr 2021 Bill C-22 and Restorative Justice: How the Liberal plan to drop minimum sentences for drug crimes could actually be a good thing

Posted at 13:21h in Blog, Criminal Justice 0 Comments
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By Daniel Zekveld I will always remember my first experience visiting a prison. I was in my University choir, and we stopped at a medium-security prison while on tour to sing for their chapel service. Throughout our performance and through our brief interaction with inmates afterwards, many of them were brought to tears and were amazed that a group of University students would sing for them and chat with them. The whole choir received a letter from one of the people imprisoned there following the visit, and he explained how that...

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22 Apr 2021 The Government of British Columbia’s Priorities for 2021

Posted at 15:08h in Politics 0 Comments
4 Likes

On April 13, the Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia, Janet Austin, delivered the government’s annual Speech from the Throne and, a week later, British Columbia’s Finance Minister, Selina Robinson, presented the annual provincial budget. Both documents lay out the government’s priorities for the legislative year. In their Speech from the Throne and budget, the NDP government re-committed themselves to the pragmatic style of government that has characterized their administration over the past four years. It is clear that the provincial government and Christians prioritize very different issues. There were no announcements in...

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21 Apr 2021 The Federal Budget Misses the Mark

Posted at 10:54h in Economics 0 Comments
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On April 19, the federal government released its 2021-2022 budget, its first budget in two years and the first since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in September, ARPA called on the government and all the opposition parties to craft a fiscally responsible plan aimed at returning Canada to a balanced budget or at least a declining debt-to-GDP ratio. This budget misses that mark by $155 billion dollars – that is the projected size of this year’s federal deficit. As for the debt-to-GDP ratio, that is not projected to decline...

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21 Apr 2021 Let the Church be the Church Campaign

Posted at 10:47h in Campaigns, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
15 Likes

It’s been over 13 months since the first Covid-19 restrictions were enacted across Canada. Since then, ARPA has launched targeted campaigns in British Columbia and Ontario and encouraged Reformed Christians in all provinces to use emails, phone calls, petitions, letters to the editor, and social media to ask their provincial leaders to allow church leadership to make the decision on how Christians can safely gather for corporate worship. We argued that corporate worship is an essential activity and that these restrictions are unconstitutional. At various times and places, we have pointed out that the...

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20 Apr 2021 Bill C-268: Protection of Freedom of Conscience Act

Posted at 11:20h in Bills and Motions, Euthanasia, Fundamental Freedoms 0 Comments
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Since the legalization of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) in 2016, there has been little effort to protect the consciences of those who refuse to participate in providing MAiD. The recent euthanasia legislation has increased access to MAiD, and doctors will increasingly run into conscientious problems with patient requests for MAiD. Currently, the province of Manitoba is the only province that specifically protects the conscience rights of physicians. Under Manitoba’s legislation, medical professionals can refuse to participate in MAiD if it violates their personal convictions. They cannot be required to provide...

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19 Apr 2021 Liberal and NDP Convention Debrief

Posted at 17:10h in Politics 0 Comments
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Two weekends ago, both the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party of Canada held their bi-annual conventions. Due to COVID-19 gathering restrictions, these conventions were held online this year, like the Conservative party’s convention a few weeks ago. Conventions are opportunities for members of political parties to come together, build the party, and prepare for the next election. Although conventions are attended by and intended for committed party members, the policies discussed and voted on at these conventions provide outsiders a blueprint as to what the party grassroots...

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