March For Life returns to Parliament Hill

OTTAWA -- The theme of this year’s March For Life in Canada is “You Are Not Alone.”

That theme will also apply if you are a pro-life Canadian and you show up on Parliament Hill May 13 to physically march in Ottawa. March organizers are promising you will not be alone.

After cancelling the in-person march completely last year, organizers of this year’s event plan to rally in person on Parliament Hill even though Ontario and much of the rest of the country continues to enact strict rules against social gatherings because of the ongoing COVID pandemic.

“We haven‘t lined up any buses to bring people in like we have in past years and the schools are closed so we won’t have school trips tied into the event like we have most other years, but we will have speakers on the Hill and we will make sure that our pro-life message is delivered load and clear,” said Campaign Life Coalition’s Debbie Duval.

Organizers of the march don’t know how many people will actually show up, but speakers have been lined up to address those who do attend. For those who can’t be there in person, the march will be available online.

“We are definitely going to be there on the 13th in person to exercise our rights. We will have speakers on the Hill like during past years,” said Duval, adding that along with Campaign Life president Jeff Gunnarson, Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition will address those gathered.

“We have some really interesting speakers lined up who will stress the importance of the pro-life cause,” Duval said, who acknowledged that some speakers organizers had hoped to book can’t attend because of the ongoing border closures. That’s where the march’s online presence will come into play.

“There are some people we were hoping to be able to bring in but with the border situation some of those plans have had to be changed but there is a lot that will be available online that will be very interesting for pro-life Canadians.”

A week-long online pro-life film festival and other online events geared towards youth will be taking place at MarchForLife.ca and on Campaign Life’s website and social media channels.

Among the films on offer are You Are Not Alone, which speaks directly to those in a position of vulnerability and crisis.

Duval said that regardless of whether pro-life Canadians attend the rally in person or not, it is important that they speak out in any manner that they feel comfortable.

“It is important everyone stand together, whether that is in person or not,” Duval said.