A Perfect Storm

Several very important legislative and legal issues are being decided within Canada in the next few weeks and months. Let me go over several of them so that we can see what our practical and Christian response should be.

First, most people reading this newsletter know that the federal government, under pressure from Bloc Quebecois MPs, is attempting to impose the so-called neutrality stance regarding hate speech in the federal Criminal Code. Until now, hate speech was defined in a variety of ways, but always had a religious exemption. People that were properly quoting scripture of various religions would be exempt from hate speech regulation. The C-9 “Combating Hate Act” would eliminate this religious exemption. It is obvious that the quoting of scripture can be seen by those who are anti-religious as hate speech. We’ve seen this before - in the areas of sexuality or life issues and indeed in discussing pluralism. The Bloc Quebecois, in its drive for so-called laicism, has tried to portray themselves as being neutral in the areas of religion. The Liberal government has not paid much attention to the stances of religiously observant Canadians. As believers, we must realize that those who are anti-religious will often try to use upholding the scripture as hate speech. This means that religious viewpoints which deviate from the secularist worldview must be deemed outside the pale. It’s not definitively illegal. The passage of bill C-9 is a clear and present threat to our freedom to express our beliefs in areas of faith and of morals. I would urge our readers to cooperate with our own Canadian Bishops in contacting your Member of Parliament and personally expressing your serious concerns of the application of hate speech to true religious views.

Secondly, also from Quebec, we have a new a new attack on our ability to speak truth to power. The current government is seeking to have a constitution for the Province of Quebec itself and in that constitution, they would guarantee access to both abortion and to euthanasia and mercy killing. The “state would protect women’s freedom to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy“. There is also an explanatory note at the beginning of the bill that “in case of conflict between the exercise of the right of equality of men and women and the exercise of freedom of religion, the former prevails.” This then is far more than just about abortion. It is about the clash between this oppression of religion and conscience and the rights of the old prevailing state. In all social justice teachings of the Church, the right of conscience is to be paramount. It is as Saint John Henry Newman said, “The primeval voice by which God speaks directly to the minds and hearts of individuals”. Not for the first time in human history, once again, state is ascribing to itself to be that ultimate voice of conscience. If the Province of Quebec government was truly honest, they would call things for what they are. This is not just a voluntary termination of pregnancy. It is the taking of a human life. How ironic that in a province where respect for preborn life was a central pillar of their initial Bill of Rights, now the pendulum has swung widely so that the exact opposite is being enshrined.

Thirdly, there is the Gaye O’Neill case before the BC Supreme Court on forcing faith-based hospitals to provide “MAiD”. A terminally ill woman had sought to be killed in Saint Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver. St. Paul’s refused as part of its principles. She was transferred to another hospital where she was offered mercy killing. The Supreme Court has seen fit to take on this case. This must raise alarm bells. Please remember that it was the British Columbia government that took over a hospice that was privately owned and forced it to offer mercy killing. A precedent has been set. By the time you get this newsletter, the hearings will already be taking place. Please pray for all those involved that they are able to be strong and articulate witnesses to their faith to uphold the conscience rights of our institutions.

Conscience rights seem to be an abstract idea, but they’re not. For doctors, nurses, pharmacists, healthcare providers, institutions, medical nursing students, social workers, childcare workers, and many others involved in our social services and medical institutions, this is a day-to-day problem. They are being forced to choose practicing and living out their faith and practicing their hard won profession. We need to raise our voices in our media, to our Members of Federal and Provincial Parliament. In a truly neutral state, the government would recognize its own limitations. It is up to us to speak constantly, to defend these people and these institutions upon which we rely. We need them and now they need us. It is time to act.

This article was composed with sources including the Interim and The Catholic Register.

Fr. Tom Lynch (PFLC National President)