Minneapolis, MN – To our soon-to-be-compatriots: thank you for making Canada a destination of hope.

WINDSOR, Ont. – Opponents of assisted suicide face “significant challenges” following the Canadian government’s official endorsement of medically-aided death in legislation enacted last June, a symposium was told.

MONTREAL – Canada and Western nations can and must do more to stop the war in Syria, said Father Jacques Mourad, a Syriac Catholic priest who was abducted and held captive for nearly five months by the Islamic State group.

VANCOUVER – How far will a man go to follow his dreams? For Fr. Joseph Thoai Le, labour camps, imprisonment and perils at sea could not block his destiny to become a priest.

TORONTO – By 2030 a quarter of Canadians will be over the age of 65. Over the next 50 years the number of us over the age of 80 will more than triple to somewhere north of five million.

Canada Day often seems a rather tepid, bureaucratic affair celebrating the day Great Britain’s Parliament managed to pass a law granting four small North American colonies the right to elect their own politicians to a single House of Commons — not a shot fired and no declaration of independence. But why limit ourselves to such a paltry notion of Canada’s origins?

David Johnston, Governor General of Canada, announced 113 new appointments to the Order of Canada, one of the highest civilian honours of the land.

OTTAWA – A new poll by Cardus Family reveals most Canadians still value marriage highly, but trends show an increase in those who see it as an outdated institution.

AJAX, ONT. – Members of an Ajax parish are growing frustrated as the wait grows longer for the Iraqi refugee family they have sponsored to be approved for resettlement in Canada.

There is no doubt that the events at Fort McMurray are a tragedy. But the tragedy lies not only in the destruction, but in the disruption of everyday life.

OTTAWA – The federal government is set to begin funding abortion in the developing world, reversing the policy of the Harper government to not provide funding for such procedures overseas.

OTTAWA – Canadian plans to export abortion to Africa “reeks of colonialization and it reeks of cultural imperialism,” a Nigerian scientist told a gathering of MPs and senators.

OTTAWA – The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace is urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to heed a letter from more than 160 Latin American organizations that has raised concerns about the operations of Canadian mining companies abroad.

EDMONTON – Pope Francis has added his name to the list of people offering prayers for Canadians affected by the massive wildfires that have led to the evacuation of Fort McMurray.

Although flames destroyed much of Fort McMurray, a resident found comfort in how the emergency united the community, even as fleeing people left everything behind but each other.