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By Brian Jenkins (Quebec Life Coalition) - Picture: L'Odyssée de la Vie/YouTube

Sunday morning, I arrived at the vigil location, my prayer partner Denis awaiting my arrival. We chatted and after making a few prayer intentions began a rosary.

Despite being a Sunday morning, the vigil location, the intersection of Berri and St. Catherine Streets, was not deserted. One group that is drawn to this spot are the rideshare travellers, men and woman who come here to meet drivers that will take them to Ottawa, Quebec City and elsewhere.

Today, one traveller caught my attention. A petite young woman, about twenty-five years old, arrived shortly after I did travel bags in hand. Alone, I was surprised how close she stood or walked around Denis and me. She moved around, at times in front of Denis and I, at other moments, behind us, always maintaining a close distance to us.

No eye contact had yet been made between the young lady and me, not until standing some fifteen feet away, she gestured impolitely with her hand towards me. I took this as a sign of an openness to exchange.

“What do you think about abortion?” I asked. So began an exchange lasting until her driver arrived and she got in and left.

Photo : Freepik

Money was a recurring theme this past week with two women that the Quebec Life Coalition’s pregnancy support program is currently assisting.

On Saturday, Danielle reached out, asking if we could meet, and she gratefully accepted my offer to grab a few groceries. After a quick run to Maxi, I stopped by her place, where the conversation soon turned to finances. Danielle had borrowed some money from a friend to cover her rent and other essentials, but now her friend was asking for repayment. She wondered if QLC might be able to help with a thousand dollars to ease her burden.

Meanwhile, Mary, who gave birth in April, called me after a recent meeting with her immigration lawyer. Since she lives outside of Montreal, I thought it would be a good chance to catch up with her. We met downtown, her four-month-old in tow, and found a spot at a nearby McDonald's. As we navigated the messiness of our Big M's, the topic of her unpaid birthing fees came up. Mary, being in Canada on a visitor visa with no health insurance, was wondering if QLC could lend a hand.

But where are the fathers?

Pilgrimages are not only a testament to personal devotion, but also an embodiment of the spiritual values QLC upholds. In order to build a Christian society that respects faith, family, and life from conception to natural death, I want to bring to you today a little testimony of a journey together in prayer and penance. Our Lady of the Cape, known for her miraculous interventions, helps remind us of the sacredness of life in the simple Quebec society of the 19th century. This to me resonates to many of the challenges we face in society today.

The 100 pilgrims set off early on the Saturday morning. They just attended mass, ate a quick breakfast, took down their tents, and were off with the rising sun. They were following the statues of our Lady and of Saint Joseph, and carrying banners and a light backpack for the day.

Photo: Pilgrims leaving early in the morning. Source: A.N.

I’m sure you won’t be surprised to learn that most of the callers asking for pregnancy support the Quebec Life Coalition receives are from women. however, on occasion, we do get the occasional call from a man.

The Quebec government plans to authorize advance euthanasia requests for people with serious illnesses, such as Alzheimer's, as early as this fall, even though the Canadian government has not amended the Criminal Code to allow such a thing.

On June 7, 2023, Quebec passed a law authorizing advance requests for euthanasia, but the law has not yet come into force. Now Quebec is talking about “moving forward”, citing a broad “consensus” among the Quebec population in the face of Ottawa's inertia on the issue.

It is to be feared that if Ottawa (all too happy, no doubt, to refrain from prohibiting in an area where it has itself had to temporarily step back) lets Quebec do as it did in 2015, other provinces will follow suit and override the Criminal Code, to the great detriment of vulnerable people. (Read our article about this development, here)

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We held our annual corn roast last Saturday, despite a little rain. Like every year, we were delighted to meet our supporters and discuss a variety of topics with them.

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In case you missed it, our colleague Arpad Nagy, director of political operations for Quebec Life Coalition, was in Hamilton participating in the Christian Heritage Party convention. At QLC, we're looking for ways to help this 100% pro-life party to make inroads in Quebec. Read Arpad's report here.

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Below, you will find information on our upcoming events. Of special interest is the upcoming Life Chain on October 6th, because it is a simple opportunity for everyone to get involved. We are currently setting up our life chain locations, and if you are interested in helping out, please reach out to us!

By Brian Jenkins (Quebec Life Coalition) — Photo : StockPhotoPro/Adobe Stock

Many of you may not be aware that the Quebec Life Coalition operates a “pregnancy support service.”

The quotation marks are added to draw attention that we do more than helping young ladies who are experiencing hardship during their pregnancies. Yes, we do the latter but over the years this service has embraced to include mothers of newborns as well to support post-abortive women live with their irreversible decisions. Here are a few examples.

We met Danielle this past May 2024. She called us after having seen our internet notice asking whether we could purchase a bed for her. She had been sleeping on the floor in her apartment and as her pregnancy progressed, it was becoming ever more uncomfortable. So, on a Saturday afternoon, we met and walked over to a retailer not too far from her apartment. There, not only was a queen-size mattress purchase but also the box to go with it and the necessary bedding.

Blog post by Augustin Hamilton (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: aijiro/Adobe Stock

The Quebec government will allow advance requests for euthanasia for people with serious illnesses, such as Alzheimer's, starting this autumn, even though Ottawa has not changed the Criminal Code in this regard.

On 7 June 2023, Quebec passed a law authorising advance requests. Since then, it has asked Ottawa on several occasions to change the Criminal Code, but Ottawa still hasn't done so and doesn't appear to be doing so. Despite this, the Quebec government is still preparing to authorise doctors to apply advance requests. Léa Fortin, the media relations officer for the Seniors Minister, Sonia Bélanger, said: "We're going to be ready, we're going to move forward. What we want is for [the federal government] to change its Criminal Code, but if it doesn't, we'll work on our options in parallel," reports La Presse.

According to Léa Fortin, there is a broad consensus in Quebec on advance requests for euthanasia: "There is a consensus in Quebec. It's a transparent process, with patients, parliamentarians and professionals all agreeing to go ahead with MAiD". Not me, certainly. The Quebec government will be making announcements this autumn.

According to Patrick Taillon, constitutionalist and law professor at Université de Laval, Quebec can move forward on the issue of advance requests, reports La Presse :

"Who files the charges? It's the State of Quebec. And if the Quebec State says, by way of a directive, [...] when it respects our laws, we never file charges, then there won't be a problem," he explains.

The constitutionalist asserts that "Ottawa could not prosecute doctors" in Quebec who administer MAiD as part of an advance request.

Québec solidaire MPs Ruba Ghazal and Christine Labrie even wrote a letter arguing that Quebec could ignore Ottawa, as it did in 2015 with its first euthanasia law.

Like in 2015? At that time, the Carter decision decriminalising euthanasia had just been handed down and Ottawa had not yet passed legislation. The Supreme Court of Canada had given Ottawa one year to do so, suspending the application of its ruling. So Quebec was in breach of the Criminal Code when it passed its euthanasia law. And Ottawa did nothing, letting Quebec kill its citizens before it had even given the go - a deplorable precedent of inaction on the part of the federal government. Because I don't think Ottawa has no means of dealing with a province that doesn't comply with its Criminal Code. What the Quebec government is really counting on is undoubtedly, once again, Ottawa's inaction on an issue on which Ottawa itself is more than willing to move forward.

We can be sure that some other provinces will follow Quebec's example if Ottawa does not intervene.

Mgr. Francis Leo, in his open letter to all members of our federal parliament, exhorted them to vote in favour of a bill that would put additional restrictions on sexually explicit materials (pornography) in order to protect minors. This open letter on Bill S-210 is not inconsequential. This can provide a framework on how churches can not only coexist with our current political system but influence it as well.

To read Mgr. Leo's letter, click here.

In this situation, a high prelate of the Catholic Church has voiced his opinion on public policy. He brought his opinion, informed by the teaching of the Catholic Church, and made it clear for all to see in society, and specifically addressing the decision makers of our land. He voiced his opinion on a bill that is going through the House of Commons—and in fact, not only did he share his thoughts, but he clearly endorsed the bill.

In his open letter, there are certain things that Mgr. Leo did do and things that he did not do:

This week, I have the privilege of attending the Christian Heritage Party Convention. This 4-day convention is attended by over 75 delegates and over 110 attendees, coming from all parts of the country. There are eight participants from the province of Quebec, including four candidates and former candidates.

One thing that you may not know is that the Christian Heritage Party is one of the older federal parties in Canada, established in 1986. Since the very beginning, the CHP has been 100% pro-life. On top of their perfect pro-life position, the CHP has a well-developed policy book, addressing all aspects of governance. During this convention, the delegates are voting on over 50 new or amended policies.

Of particular note, the delegates will be voting on:

• Numerous environmental policies that intend to lay a strong foundation to securing a bright future for future generations,
• Several educational policies that intend to provide a framework to the rights of parents and students without encroaching of provincial jurisdiction,
• Several healthcare policies to better protect the rights of patients and healthcare workers, also with respect to provincial jurisdiction,
• Policies on Artificial Intelligence, euthanasia, justice, omnibus bill, United Nations membership and many more.

The theme of this convention is based on Nehemiah 2:18-20. After the Babylonian exile and the return of the Jews to Jerusalem, Nehemiah, a cupbearer to the Persian king, also returns. Upon his return, he assesses the desolate state of the walls of Jerusalem and rallies the people to rebuild the walls. As such, the speakers of this convention have been encouraging the attendees to also get up and build, given the pitiful state of Canada today.

The spirit of the convention is joyful and hopeful. The plenary sessions have been very productive, and most resolutions thus far have been passed with overwhelming support.

I will be here until the closing of the convention on Thursday. If you want to tune in to the convention, you are in luck. For the first time, most sessions are being live-streamed. You can tune it by visiting: https://chpconvention.ca/live.The leader's address will be on Wednesday evening at 7pm.

More to come next week!

Stuck is a one-stop shop when it comes to pro-life apologetics based on the human rights argument. It does not bring anything new to the table, but draws from already developed pro-life arguments by people such as Scott Klussendorf, Randy Alcorn and Stephanie Gray. The Canadian Centre for Bio-ethical Reform, or CCBR for short, has tested all of the arguments in this volume on the street in one-on-one conversations, and has found great success in swaying people’s mind on abortion. 

In this volume, the main argument presented is the human rights argument against abortion. Everything falls back to the simple idea that all members of the human family should have the same inherent dignity and basic rights. The importance of the human rights argument is that in our ever-increasing secular world, faith-based arguments are much less accepted by people than human right based arguments. Whatever your faith background, it is good to be able to reason with people with little understanding or skepticism about a spiritual reality.

Stuck is broken down into chapters that address the main topics in abortion apologetics:

—In the circumstances chapter, you’ll learn how to respond to the argument that the child is not wanted or that the mother is not ready.
—In the personhood chapter, you’ll examine why a pre-born child is as much a person as a born child. 
—It’s my body chapter will examine bodily autonomy, totally debunking the catchy slogan. 
—The hard cases chapters will look at how to respond to cases of incest, rape, and where the life of the mother is in danger.
—The abortion procedure chapter gives thorough explanations on the different abortion is being practised today.
—The perspectives chapter talks about being considerate to people’s situation and bringing the right approach. One method doesn’t fit all. 

A proven methodology presented in this book is the common ground, analogy, question method, and all apologetics arguments can fall back on this easy three-step method. 

Stuck will also suggest extra resources, give examples of dialogues, and prompt you to do activities. 

About the Author: Justina Van Manen started doing pro-life outreach at the age of 14 and then joined CCBR as a volunteer, and then as an intern. As a graduate from Redeemer University with a Bachelor in English, she has continued her work with CCBR as well as continued to work on her second university degree. She works for CCBR as a speaker and as communications director. Stuck came out in 2019, and can be found for sale on the CCBR website or on amazon (for a Kindle version). Justina’s 2nd book on embryo adoption came out in 2022.