By Camilla Gunnarson
On the day after the federal election, Canada woke up to a red wave as an overwhelming majority of Canadians voted in a Liberal government, under Justin Trudeau. Canada has been hit by a red wave,” said TV’s anchor Peter Mansbridge, as the results rolled in during CBC’s election coverage. Political pundits and viewers were stunned to see the colour red blanket the map of Canada with 184 seats going to the Federal Liberals.
Justin Trudeau referred to his win not as a red wave but as, “Sunny ways,” referring reportedly, to former Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier’s philosophical appeal to “positive politics.”
For pro-lifers, Justin Trudeau’s win does not represent a red wave or anything positive, but rather, a sea of red;
a sea of red; red with the blood of our pre-born children, the infirm and the elderly of our nation. His newly elected government has promised to increase access to more abortion services within Canada and around the world and will refuse to invoke the notwithstanding clause to allow the democratic process to decide euthanasia and assisted-suicide legislation.
After the results of this election, we have to ask ourselves if enough Canadians really care about these issues.
Pro-lifers are often accused of being single issue voters, but that kind of accusation is simply a form of intimidation to discount the pro-life position and the validity of voting with a well formed conscience.
A civilized society is built upon the principle of the right to life. This right is fundamental, since all other rights are dependent on it. What good is a strengthened economy, accessible and affordable health care, national security, etc., if one does not have the right to life? Without the right to life, all other rights are meaningless.
The tragedy in this election is that good people did not consider the life issues when deciding who to vote for. But let’s be honest, how many people actually know that they have a duty to vote with an informed conscience consistent with moral truths and fundamental human rights? How many clergy informed their congregations of this duty?
I am not suggesting that pastors should have told their parishioners who to vote for, but given their position of authority, it would have been, at best, a spiritual enlightenment and, at worst, an educational moment, to remind parishioners that, democracy must be based on the true and solid foundation of non-negotiable ethical principles.
There are many issues a voter must consider when casting a ballot, but not all issues rank the same in moral value. Some issues are simply non-negotiable, for instance, abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide. Such issues must never be promoted by law therefore Christians, Catholics and all people of good will, must avoid voting for those who promote them.
It was disheartening for me to see a Catholic trustee and several Catholic Teacher’s Unions publicly declare their support for the Liberals and the NDP. Can they honestly say that they were unaware of the demands of their faith? Theirs is a spirit of arrogance and an unwillingness to bend to the oath they have purported to have taken to uphold Catholic teaching.
To quote Pope John Paull II, “The common outcry, which is justly made on behalf of human rights, for example, the right to health, to home, to work, to family, to culture, is false and illusory if the right to life, the most basic and fundamental right and the condition of all the other personal rights is not defended with maximum determination.”
It is true that there wasn’t much difference between all three major political party positions on the life issues. We know that Stephen Harper continually played the coward by not allowing debate on abortion and did nothing to mitigate its harm in our country. The conservatives did however, ensure that Canada would not fund abortion services in developing countries and allowed MPs to vote their conscience. Additionally, they opposed assisted suicide and sought an extension of time from the Supreme Court to review questions surrounding the issue. Trudeau and Mulcair on the other hand, not only promised to advance abortion services in Canada and abroad, but also insisted that MPs within their parties would not be permitted to vote pro-life as well as supported euthanasia and assisted-suicide.
I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say that Canadians who voted for Justin Trudeau will soon realize that the “Real Change” they voted for will include larger government, higher taxes, less freedom, weakened national security, and imposed death.
French political philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville said “In democracy we get the government we deserve”
Leave A Comment