Canadian News

News and events from across the country.

Secularization pushing out religion in health care

March 26, 2011

Toronto Auxiliary Bishop William McGrattan speaking at the annual Cardinal Ambrozic lecture. (Photo by Vanessa Santilli) [images/stories/canada_bishops/mcgrattanhealthcare.jpg]TORONTO - Secularization influence has reached not only into the religious sphere, but also health care, Toronto Auxiliary Bishop William McGrattan told an audience of about 50 people at the annual Cardinal Ambrozic lecture March 24. "At the outset of our reliance and dependance on rational thought we attribute to the Enlightenment, certain forces have gradually eroded not only the authority of religion, but also social groups," said McGrattan. "Social groups such as health care professionals and medicine." McGrattan discussed the relationship between health care and Catholic spirituality at the annual lecture, hosted by the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute. The lecture took place at the University at St. Michael's College. And secularization has influenced our concept of spirituality at its very core, he said.

Canadian government falls after non-confidence vote

March 25, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has been defeated in the House of Commons on a non-confidence motion. [images/stories/canada_people/StephenHarper2.jpg]OTTAWA - The House of Commons has found the Conservative government in contempt of Parliament in a non-confidence motion that has triggered a May election. A Liberal motion passed by a vote of 156-145 Friday afternoon. Prime Minister Stephen Harper will now ask Gov. Gen. David Johnston to dissolve Parliament, sending Canadians to the polls for the fourth time in seven years. The non-confidence vote derails a voter-friendly federal budget tabled on Mar. 22 that had proposed millions of dollars in new spending. It also kills more than 30 pieces of pending legislation, including Bill C-393 that is supported by Canadian bishops and aims to make affordable generic drugs available to the world's poor to treat illnesses such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Harper said he was disappointed by the defeat of his government because it heralds an election he maintains Canadians do not want. A federal election will cost taxpayers upwards of $300 million. Canada now faces its fifth election in little more than 10 years.

Budget lacks vision for helping the poor or young families

March 24, 2011

Prime Minister Stephen Harper [images/stories/canada_people/StephenHarper2.jpg]OTTAWA - The reaction to the March 22 federal budget was muted among groups concerned about the family and the poor, with one group describing it as “ho hum." But the reaction may be moot, as all three Opposition parties have signaled they will not support it, which would trigger a spring election, likely in May. “It was a pretty quick read,” said Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) executive director Joe Gunn, who also chairs the Dignity for All Campaign for a Poverty-free Canada. “It looks like pretty thin gruel.” Gunn was disappointed that concerns raised in a recent interfaith declaration by church leaders on making poverty reduction and social housing a priority were not tackled in the budget.

Alberta bishops' boycott of local March for Life could have national repercussions

March 23, 2011

The annual March for Life in Ottawa on May 12 could be affected by the Alberta bishops’ decision to not take part in the Edmonton version of the march the same day. (Photo by Deborah Gyapong) [images/stories/canada/canada11/marchforlife2010.jpg] OTTAWA - Campaign Life Coalition has expressed disappointment at the Alberta bishops’ decision to forgo participation in the Edmonton March for Life. The march takes place May 12, the same day of the Campaign Life-run National March for Life in Ottawa. “They should be there, supporting, participating and leading,” said Mary Ellen Douglas. But she noted that the fact the Alberta bishops were also involved in organizing the march might have been part of the problem. A pro-life march is not a Catholic event, as such, so it should not be run by bishops, she said.

REAL Women to intervene in appeal of ‘safe’ drug injection site

March 23, 2011

REAL Women national vice-president Gwen Landolt [images/stories/canada_people/canada_people10/gwenlandolt.jpg]OTTAWA - REAL Women of Canada has been granted leave to intervene before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Vancouver safe drug injection site case to be argued May 11. The pro-family, pro-life women’s organization is the only group among nine interveners that will argue on behalf of the federal government’s position that Ottawa has jurisdiction to control illegal drugs and that those laws should have a moral basis. The federal government is appealing a 2010 B.C. Court of Appeal ruling, which dismissed an earlier government appeal, to close InSite, the supervised safe-injection site in Vancouver. InSite opened in 2003 under a temporary exemption from national drug laws and offers drug addicts a place to inject drugs while connecting to health services. When the temporary exemption was set to expire, InSite went to the B.C. Supreme Court and won a permanent exemption.

Labour board ruling gives St. Mike's profs union status

March 23, 2011

University of St. Michael's College [images/stories/education/stMichaelsCollege.jpg]TORONTO - Twenty theology professors and librarians at Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College have won a slam-dunk ruling from the Ontario Labour Relations Board unionizing the faculty and obliging the college to negotiate a first contract. The ruling not only recognized the St. Michael’s College profs as unionized workers seeking a contract, but ruled that all 2,600-plus faculty at the University of Toronto are in fact union members. Before the March 17 ruling, the University of Toronto Faculty Association wasn’t formally a union, even though it negotiated minimum work conditions for university teachers and librarians, including pay, academic freedom, research and study leaves, workload, etc. “What the board is really saying is that the nature of the relationship between the parties has the essential characteristics of a relationship between an employer and a union,” said Canadian Association of University Teachers executive director James Turk.

Conference to explore Pope’s Verbum Domini

March 23, 2011

Archbishop Donald Wuerl [images/stories/canada_bishops/archbishopdonaldwuerl.jpg]TORONTO - Catholic scholars will gather at Regis College March 31 and April 1 to discuss Pope Benedict XVI’s Verbum Domini, the results of the October 2008 General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in Rome. The apostolic exhortation was dedicated to the Word of God in the life and the mission of the Church. Sponsored by Regis College and Salt + Light Television, “Word of God: Light of Love” will include keynote speakers Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., London Bishop Ronald Fabbro, Washington Archbishop Donald Wuerl and Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus.

Antigonish abuse settlement going as expected

March 23, 2011

Antigonish Bishop Brian Dunn [images/stories/canada_bishops/bishopbriandunn.jpg]ANTIGONISH, N.S. - The settlement of a class-action lawsuit filed against the diocese of Antigonish on behalf of victims of sexual abuse remains on track and is meeting its timelines. “It is going the way we anticipated it going,” said diocesan spokesman Fr. Paul Abbass. “The response of the parish and the generosity of the parishes in this pooling, albeit very difficult for them, has been very good.” In August 2009, the diocese agreed to pay $13 million relating to sexual abuse cases dating back several decades. Then-Bishop Raymond Lahey announced the deal, shortly before being charged himself with importing and possessing child pornography. Lahey will be in court to face these charges next month.

Ontario’s equity policy on tap at annual OCSTA conference

March 23, 2011

Ontario Minister of Education Leona Dombrowsky [images/stories/education/education10/LeonaDombrowsky.jpg]TORONTO - The Ontario Catholic School Trustees’ Association conference takes place April 28 to 30 at the Fairmont Royal York in Toronto. Ontario Minister of Education Leona Dombrowksy will be a keynote speaker at the conference on the opening day of the annual conference. Among the topics conference speakers and participants will discuss will be the Ontario government’s equity and inclusive education strategy and how it applies to Catholic schools and how the strategy will be implemented in Catholic schools. The issue has caused controversy as Catholic school boards try to implement the strategy while staying true to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

Baby Joseph gets his tracheotomy

March 22, 2011

Moe Maraachli and his 14-month-old son, Joseph, are pictured in a St. Louis hospital room. Doctors performed a tracheotomy on the infant last night. (CNS photo/courtesy of SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center) [images/stories/canada/canada11/babyjoseph_mar22_3.jpg]Doctors at a St. Louis hospital performed a tracheotomy March 21 on Baby Joseph, the seriously ill 14-month-old who has been at the centre of an international tug-of-war over end-of-life care. It's a procedure the Maraachli family has fought for ever since the Ontario Superior Court ordered them to give their consent to remove their child's breathing tube on Feb. 18. He has a neurodegenerative disease and needs a breathing and feeding tube to survive.The family defied the legal order and the advice of London Health Sciences Centre doctors who said his condition would not improve with the procedure, would be "invasive" and futile. “Following a thorough examination by a multi-disciplinary medical team of specialists from SSM Cardinal Glennon and Saint Louis University School of Medicine, along with extensive consultations with Joseph's parents and the SSM Cardinal Glennon ethics committee, we concluded that a tracheotomy was medically appropriate,” said the SSM Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Centre in a statement.