TORONTO - The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is concerned its VincenPaul Community Homes program will be lost if the proposed sale of 706 stand-alone housing units by the Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) board goes ahead.

St. Vincent de Paul leases 11 of the houses TCHC is proposing to sell, said Louise Coutu, executive director of the society’s central council in Toronto. These residences act as peer-monitored recovery programs. The society owns an additional three homes. Out of its 86 beds, 66 of those will be affected, Coutu said.

Motherhood, politics on Olympian Alexa Loo’s horizon

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VANCOUVER - Alexa Loo’s snowboard is in safe storage, likely for the season, as the Olympic snowboarder pursues a new chapter in her life as a mother.

“She or he will be born right when the slopes open for the winter, so I might not go snowboarding this year,” said Loo with a laugh. 

The eight-time Canadian snowboarding champion and three-time World Cup medalist, who placed 12th at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, is not only embracing impending motherhood, she has also thrown her helmet in the ring for a seat on Richmond City Council.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide battle before Canada's courts

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OTTAWA - Canadian pro-life forces are prepared for battle as the latest attempt to legalize euthanasia and assisted suicide makes it way through the courts.

On Nov. 14 in Vancouver, the B.C. Supreme Court began hearing arguments in Carter vs. Attorney General of Canada, that challenges Canada’s laws against assisted suicide and euthanasia. The Carter case, brought by the B.C. Civil Liberties Association on behalf of Lee Carter and four others, seeks to have assisted suicide treated as a medical instead of criminal issue.

Previous attempts to legalize euthanasia through Canada’s Parliament have failed.

Superior General offers encouragement in spreading Christian Brothers’ mission

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TORONTO - Br. Alvaro Rodriguez Echeverria came to Toronto in mid-November to encourage the work done by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools as they continue along their path, sharing their work with their lay brothers and sisters.

The goal of the Superior General’s visit was “to encourage the brothers (by) visiting different communities and apostolates to have a better reading of each institution and to encourage the Lasallian mission, especially at this moment of our history where we are sharing our charism with lay people,” he told The Catholic Register.

Miller urges Catholics to be alert in protecting their religious freedom

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OTTAWA - Though Canada has traditionally had a healthy relationship between Church and state, Catholics need to remain alert to protect religious freedom, says Vancouver Archbishop Michael Miller.

There is a secularist agenda that “basically wants to privatize religion and leave it restricted to the private sphere,” Miller said from Vancouver Nov. 10.

Pressures to compress religious freedom into private belief and private worship are not what is intended in Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the universal human rights documents, he said.

Edmonton sister named a ‘Woman of Vision’

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EDMONTON - Sr. Annata Brockman, while on a retreat many years ago with other sisters, was asked to explain her motivating force in daily living.

Brockman responded with a statement by which she has lived her whole life. She even keeps that response typed on a slip of paper.

“The entire universe is God’s family and I am part of that family,” she said. “My parents emphasized the fact that every man, woman and child is my brother and sister, and I should treat them as I would the Lord.”

ISARC to gauge poverty views, one MPP at a time

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TORONTO - One MPP at a time, face-to-face, ISARC wants every one of Ontario’s 107 newly elected or re-elected legislators to answer a few questions.

The Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition is forming interfaith committees across the province, arming them with studies and statistics and sending them into MPP’s offices to get clear answers on poverty. They want to know about each MPP’s commitment to the 2009 Poverty Reduction Act, welfare rates, minimum wage, affordable housing and support for community agencies.

The riding level lobbying blitz will take the place of the usual fall meeting of religious leaders at Queen’s Park.

Quebec churches in line for restoration funding

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QUEBEC CITY - Historic churches in Quebec will receive almost $14 million from the provincial government to help with nearly $20 million in restoration and repair work.

Funding from the Ministry of Culture, Communications and the Status of Women will flow to 83 projects through Quebec’s council of religious heritage — a joint government and Church body.

Just under $13 million will go to structural repairs to roofs, windows, brickwork, etc. Another $665,560 will be spent on organs, works of art and furniture.

Most Canadians would kill the pain instead of the patient

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TORONTO - An overwhelming majority of Canadians prefer more palliative care to legalizing euthanasia, according to a new Environics poll.                                                                     

When presented with a choice of palliative care or legalized euthanasia, 71 per cent of respondents nationwide said they preferred investing in “more and better palliative and hospice care” over legalizing euthanasia (19 per cent), according to the poll commissioned by Life Canada. The other 10 per cent had no opinion or supported neither.

The study says that a majority of Canadians “want to kill the pain, not the patient,” said Monica Roddis, president of Life Canada.

St. Michael's students remember fallen heroes

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Toronto's St. Michael’s College School remembered the soldiers who died protecting Canada with a ceremony, Nov 11.

After a procession in which the Canadian flag, a book of remembrance, and wreaths were carried to the front of the gymnasium, students watched video clips of veterans as they reflected on their experiences and observed a moment of silence. Captain Frank Lamie ’98 of the 48th Highlanders of Canada addressed the students at 11:00 a.m., discussing his experiences in Afghanistan, and the importance of gratitude for Canada’s men and women in uniform.

Following the ceremony, students carried the images of the 158 soldiers who died in the Afghanistan war to the school’s front lawn.

You can view pictures from the morning's events in the slideshow below.

Bringing the music up to speed for the new missal

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TORONTO - Since the translation of the Roman Missal has changed, the new texts of the people’s parts don’t fit the old music, said Bill Targett, director of the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Formation for Discipleship.

“So new music had to be written for those parts of the Mass that are normally sung,” he said.

Upon the recommendation of the National Council for Liturgical Music, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops commissioned composers Fr. Geoffrey Angeles, John Dawson and M. Michel Guimont to prepare new musical settings for the “ordinary” parts of the Mass.