News

By Georges Buscemi, president of Quebec Life Coalition — Photo: Freepik

Subject: Brief ─ Special Joint Committee on "Medical Assistance in Dying"

+JMJ+
May 9, 2022
BY EMAIL: [email protected]
Special Joint Committee on Medical Assistance in Dying
Parliament of Canada

Dear Committee Members:

Quebec Life Coalition is pleased to provide the following comments to the Special Joint Committee to assist them in fulfilling their mandate to conduct a comprehensive review of the "medical assistance in dying" (MAID) provisions of the Criminal Code as set out in Bill C-7.

We are fundamentally opposed to the introduction and any expansion of MAID, particularly because MAID violates the spirit of the preamble to the Canadian Constitution: "Whereas Canada is founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law." We believe that this preamble needs to be re-emphasized in our law schools in particular and in the culture in general, so that our society can reverse the strong tendency for the laws of our country to increasingly reflect the interests of the powerful rather than the expression of truth, justice and the defence of the weak.

Quebec Life Coalition is a Quebec association that works in concert with any individual or association of good will to establish a Christian society that protects faith, family and life from conception to natural death. Like the framers of the Constitution Act of 1982, we, as an organization, acknowledge that a just society requires the recognition of God ─ by individuals as well as by the authorities responsible for the common good ─ as the ultimate author and guarantor of laws.

Unfortunately, the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1982 is now considered obsolete by some, in a so-called increasingly "secular" age. Madam Justice Southin, in her 1999 decision in R. v. Sharpe, characterized the preamble as a "dead letter". An appeal of that decision and its ruling in the Supreme Court never challenged that characterization. The 1991 O'Sullivan v. Canada (M.N.R.) decision weakened the meaning of this preamble by explaining that it now has only one function: to prevent Canada from becoming officially atheist, as the USSR was and Communist China is today.

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Google/Facebook

CTV News shares the sad story of a 66-year-old Lachine man who asked his doctor for "medical assistance in dying", or assisted suicide, due to the lack of care from his Local community services centres (CLSC) in the Dorval-Lachine borough.

Jacques Comeau is a retired art therapist who suffers from quadriplegia and uses a wheelchair. His disease is a paralysis that affects more or less all four limbs of the body (arms and legs). It involves the loss of muscular functions and sensations, to a variable degree, of the affected limbs. Despite his condition, Mr. Comeau is an independent and active man in the community. He drives, runs his own errands, volunteers and paints in his spare time, according to the CTV News report.

In addition, until now, Mr. Comeau had access to health care at home that had allowed him to live a full and happy life. Unfortunately, this summer, his local health center (CLSC) underwent changes that have had a serious impact on Comeau's daily life. He needs the assistance of caregivers who come 3 times a week to help him clear his bowel. However, for the past month, Mr. Comeau has been experiencing difficulties with the new caregivers, who are unfamiliar with his body and care for him incorrectly, causing him to have bowel accidents at unexpected times of the day. As a result, he can no longer function as he used to because he is constantly preoccupied with his accidents.

Mr. Comeau's case is obviously serious, but why did he rush to assisted suicide? It is because it is an option available to him. It seems that Mr. Comeau's problems, which have only been going on for a month, could be solved in ways other than by a hasty death. Moreover, if he opts for euthanasia, there may be no change in the health care system in Quebec.

In the same vein, might this man be suffering from depression because of the discomforts he has been experiencing for the past month and which would lead him to this drastic decision? Or could it be that he was influenced by the discussion he had with his doctor? If this is a case of a man who is otherwise active, but chooses assisted suicide, we are witnessing a society that is not solving the core problem: that of having a better health service.

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Kelly Block's Facebook page

About a week ago, Kelly Block addressed all pro-lifers in a Campaign Life TV video, asking them to support her Bill C-230, the Conscience Protection Act.

Unfortunately, on October 5, 2022, MP Kelly Block's bill was defeated by a vote of 203 to 115 in the Ottawa Parliament, despite the support of the vast majority of Conservative MPs as reported by La Presse.

The bill was intended to protect the freedom of conscience of health care professionals faced with requests for "medical assistance in dying". It was intended to amend the Criminal Code to allow health professionals not to participate "directly or indirectly" in assisted suicides (euthanasia).

If Bill C-230 had been passed, it would have been illegal to intimidate or fire a health care professional who refuses to perform euthanasia or refer a patient to another health care professional.

This vote comes at a time when requests for euthanasia are becoming increasingly common in Canada, for reasons that include financial problems or mental health issues (which can be resolved).

The Life Chain, a pro-life demonstration organized in Montreal on Sunday, October 2nd near the Namur metro station.

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Joanne of Arc

On Sunday afternoon, October 2nd, Quebec Life Coalition organized an annual event called the Life Chain.

Each year, on the first Sunday of October, pro-life activists gather to form anti-abortion prayer chains in Canada and the United States. Their goal is to share a message in support of the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death. In Montreal, the Life Chain has been organized since 1991, while in the United States it began in 1987. In 1990, Campaign Life Coalition began this activity in Canada.

Sunday's demonstration in Montreal took place near the Namur metro station, at the corner of Décarie Boulevard and Jean-Talon Street. On that sunny day, the group numbered about 20 people, both men and women, holding signs with messages in French and English such as:

• "Abortion kills children"
• "Yes to adoption"
• "Jesus forgives and heals"
• "Pray for an end to abortion"

I was happy to read this morning that Pierre Poilievre, the new leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, had finally published his list of “shadow ministers”, that is, the members of parliament in the opposition Conservative party who will be criticizing the work of the Liberal ministers currently in power.

But what really delighted me was seeing that Leslyn Lewis, the fully pro-life and pro-family leadership candidate for the Conservative Party, who ultimately lost to Pierre Poilievre, had been picked as “shadow minister” for infrastructure and communities, which means that, beyond her work representing her constituents in her riding of Haldimand—Norfolk, she will be constructively criticizing the work of Liberal minister of infrastructure Dominic Leblanc.

Dr. Leslyn Lewis, MP

And Dr. Lewis isn’t the only pro-lifer to be named “shadow minister” by Poilievre—not by a long shot (see the document I prepared, here). These positions, which often translate into minister positions once a party comes into power, have been given by Poilievre to as many as 21 bona fide pro-lifers within the Conservative Party’s ranks. That’s a full 30% of the 71 shadow minister or associate shadow minister positions. Many of the remaining positions are filled by people who are rated by us as “unsure” since we lack info on them. Rounding out the total are 19 “pro-abortion” Conservatives, or 17% of the total. We must work to get these people to adopt pro-life views or get out.

This is good news for at least 2 reasons:

First, this shows that Pierre Poilievre is listening to his socially conservative base. He knows that we pro-faith, pro-family and pro-life voters wanted Leslyn and other pro-lifers in his inner circle. And he delivered, which is a refreshing contrast to the previous leader, Erin O’Toole, who instead chose to throw Leslyn to the backbenches and kick another strong pro-lifer, Derek Sloan, out of the party altogether!

Second, as I mentioned above, these positions are often testing grounds for a Member of Parliament’s ability to work at a high level. If and when the Conservatives come into power (thanks to the NDP-Liberal agreement, the next federal election is slated for 2025), these so-called “shadow ministers” may become real ministers, with real budgets.

And pro-life ministers can use their ministry’s budgets for good, rather than for promoting abortion, LGBT ideology, secularism and euthanasia.

In the coming days and weeks, we will be working to craft memoranda for each of the pro-life and even “unsure” shadow minister MPs, so that they can be guided to maximize the good they can do, first as “shadow ministers” (or critics of the pro-abortion Liberal ministers in power), and then, hopefully, as true ministers with a budget to do much good for faith, family and life in Canada and abroad.

Yours for Life,

Georges Buscemi, President
Quebec Life Coalition / Campagne Québec-Vie

By Joanne of Arc (Quebec Life Coalition) - Photo: Joanne of Arc

In Montreal, on Wednesday, September 28, there was an exclusive screening of the film "CHSLD - Je me souviens" [LTC Homes – I remember] directed by Sylvain Laforest, about the 6,700 victims in Private senior's residence (RPA) who were seriously affected from spring 2020 to spring 2021.

People finally met in a resto-bar to discuss, eat and drink, regardless of their vaccination status. After two years of terror and trauma imposed by the government during the state of emergency created during the pandemic, the "Macarons de la Dignité" group facilitated a memorable gathering that allowed people to remember the elders who were brutally mistreated during the confinement periods imposed during the pandemic.

The magnitude of what happened to the elderly, who were in a capacity deficit in our society during this time of crisis, requires an independent commission of inquiry. The documentary brings to light through several testimonies the abominable way in which people at the end of their lives were treated in Long Term Care Homes (homes for the aged).

To go into detail, although it is difficult to share, the seniors in the LTC Homes were denied water for 10 days so that they would not fill their diapers. Then they were denied vitamins C and D. Finally, they were neglected when their mouths were full of vomit and their diapers were full. The nursing homes floors were empty of staff members and those who were present were overwhelmed with their responsibilities. Many of the decisions that were made under these circumstances lacked empathy and humanity towards the residents.

For example, one account in the documentary tells us of a senior who was locked in his room with several padlocks placed on his door, as if he was an animal in a cage. The elder in question resisted with all his physical abilities and destroyed the padlocks by forcing them. Imposing all this for the sake of public health and safety?

What about the mental health of the residents of these centers? They could not even walk to get some fresh air, see or touch their loved ones, and the only activity they were allowed was to watch television, which did nothing but talk about the virus and spread fear 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In the documentary, retired professor, ex-psychologist and author Lucie Mandeville talks about this fear. Fear is one of the strongest emotions in human beings that will create traumas in the individual. People at the end of their lives in LTC Homes have not only been neglected, but traumatized. These are serious consequences to which we have turned a blind eye.

This week, there is some good news and some bad news coming out of Quebec. The Quebec General elections were held this Monday, and with little surprise, the CAQ, Coalition Avenir Quebec, won another majority government with 41% of the popular vote and 72% of the seats. That’s the bad news. The CAQ is a completely secular party that has filled the void of the lack of conservatism in Quebec. The CAQ is seen by many Quebecers as a lifeboat for preserving Quebec identity and culture in increasingly turbulent times, which accounts for its popularity. Until just before this election season, it was the most right-wing party in Quebec.

But here's the good news…

With the return of a viable Conservative party of Quebec for the first time since the 70’s, there is reason to hope. The newly revived Conservative Party of Quebec captured 13% of the popular vote (up from a mere 1.5% last election). Even though it did not win a single seat in the National Assembly (finishing in 2nd place in many ridings), there is little doubt that their popularity will continue to increase. The rapid surge of the Conservative party of Quebec in the past months, under the leadership of Eric Duhaime, is giving new political opportunities for pro-life, pro-family and pro-God ideas to return to the barren political landscape of Quebec. Even though the leader, Eric Duhaime, identifies himself as homosexual, there is a way forward. Just like Pierre Poilievre is opposed to our pro-life beliefs, there are great opportunities within both the federal Conservative party and the Quebec Provincial Conservative party.

The pro-life movement cannot neglect its political arm. As pro-lifers, we cannot ignore the political reality that we live in. I know so many of you really care for the unborn and are already working hard to protect life in other fields, that is great! Thank you!!! But on top of involvement in other pro-life activities, every able pro-lifer also needs to do the minimum for the political branch of the pro-life movement. If you vote in general elections, that’s good, but that is not enough. The minimum, I recommend, is to hold an active membership in both a federal and provincial political party where you can assert your influence. 

And this is what I ask of pro-lifers in Quebec and anywhere else:

Become a member of a political party. Both a federal party, and a provincial party. Whatever your opinion about our political system, by getting involved, we can make a difference. For politically active pro-lifers in the rest of Canada, you may be surprised to know that here in Quebec, Conservative riding associations usually have less than 100 members, and only a fraction of them are active. At the last AGM (annual general meeting) in my riding, I was one of 4 voting members. Imagine how much a single church community or a group of pro-life friends can accomplish by getting active with numbers like this! 

In the next 2-3 years, we at Quebec Life Coalition plan on identifying pro-life candidates so that in every riding in Quebec, pro-lifers can, in good conscience, vote for a candidate who properly represents their values. Ideally, we would like that these candidates be in a political party where they will have the largest influence and the largest chance to get elected. For this end, we also need to find good people to support these candidates when they present themselves. If a candidate was to be selected at the AGM where only a few voting members are present, those few can decide on whose name is on the ballot. This is the reason for membership in political parties. 

I cannot go into any more detail as this e-mail is already longer than it should. But should you have any questions, please send me an e-mail. I will be very happy to have a conversation with you. This is my job: to help pro-lifers understand how they can have an impact for life through politics. 

In closing, I would like to thank all our generous donors who have helped us surpass our fundraising goals. As of today, our fundraising campaign raised 16489.00$. These funds will go a long way in advancing the fight for life in Quebec. 


Arpad Nagy
Director of Political Operations

P.S. Kelly Block's Bill C-230, the Freedom of conscience bill should be happening soon. If you have not yet contacted your member of parliament to encourage them to vote yes to the bill, please call the member of parliament in your riding. Find their contact information here.

P.P.S. My colleague Brian Jenkins is organizing another 40 days for life in Sherbrooke, please join him in person, if you can, or in prayer.

If you haven't already, this is your LAST CHANCE to donate to our fall 2022 fundraising campaign.
We have $1,565 left to raise. Please donate today if you can >>

Good news this week with the election in Italy of a conservative coalition at the head of which will most likely be placed, as Prime Minister, Georgia Meloni, the leader of the "Brothers of Italy" party. Meloni is a strong woman who does not hesitate to denounce the pro-abortion and anti-Christian elite in the West, as she reminds us of the need to stand up to these ideologues who want to indoctrinate our children with LGBTXYZ nonsense and promote limitless abortion.

Watch this lady speak during a speech for a pro-life conference in Italy in 2019:

Read her words carefully, they are worth pondering:

"Why is the family an enemy [for our opponents]? Why is the family so scary? Because it defines us. Because it is our identity. Because everything that defines us is now an enemy for those who would like us to have no identity. Whether we are simply perfect slaves or consumers. And so they attack national identity, they attack religious identity, they attack gender identity, they attack family identity.

I cannot define myself as a Christian, an Italian, a woman, a mother. No. I must be citizen X, gender X, parent 1, parent 2… I must only be a number. Because when I'm just a number, I won't have any identity or roots. Then I will be a perfect slave at the mercy of financial speculators. The perfect consumer.

And that is why we inspire so much fear in them. This is why this event [a pro-life conference] today inspires so much fear. It's because we don't want to be numbers. Because we defend the value of the human being, of each human being. Because each of us has a unique genetic code that is not reproducible. And whether we like it or not, it's sacred.

We will defend it. We will defend God, country and family. Those things that disgust those people so much. We will do it to defend our freedom, because we will never be slaves or mere consumers at the mercy of financial speculators. This is our mission. That's why I came here today. Chesterton wrote more than a century ago: “Fires will be kindled to testify that two and two are four. Swords will be drawn to show that the leaves are green in summer”. This moment has arrived. And we are ready! ". (source)

Of course, she's been given, and will be given every possible label: supporter of fascist leader Benito Mussolini, radical right-winger, etc. Don't be swayed by this, and above all don't expect the people in power and their anti-Christian, pro-abortion, pro-LGBT, pro-euthanasia, media mouthpieces to welcome politicians who, like Meloni, want to fight the evils of our time.

At Quebec Life Coalition, we salute Meloni's commitment to fighting the Culture of Death that attacks family and faith, and we encourage her to persevere against the relentless attacks of her adversaries, who are also ours.

We are at the end of our fundraising campaign for fall 2022; we are at 90% of our goal. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who contributed. However, we still have $1,565 to go. Now is the time to give if you haven't had the chance to contribute yet.

If you can, please donate today.

Yours for Life,

Georges Buscemi, President
Quebec Life Coalition / Campagne Québec-Vie

Last week, I introduced you to two of the 6 full-time staff members at Quebec Life Coalition; we’re a team fighting for Faith, Life and Family in Quebec, so that all of Canada can benefit. Today I’ll present the other four:

Augustin

Augustin has been with us for about four years. He works for us as a journalist and a translator, bringing to Quebec the most pertinent news about faith, life and family to a province that rarely hears about such topics in its mainstream and even alternative media. He knows up close about the beauty and challenges of a Culture of Life: He is one of 9 siblings in a family that cares for 2 Down's syndrome individuals. His mother Dominique translates for us about 20 hours a week.

Augustin (at right) ready to attend some meetings at the UN in New York City, with other pro-lifers.

(There are only 3 days left to our fall fundraiser; if you have given already, our warmest thanks! If not, we need about $4,350 to reach our $15,000 goal. If you want Quebec and Canada to be Pro-Life, please give today.)

Joanna

Joanna has come on board with us late this summer as a journalist, photographer, and graphic designer. She made the jump because she wanted to be in a workplace that aligned with her values ​​in a world that doesn’t seem any longer to differentiate between good and evil. She says she was guided to apply to work at QLC during a prayer novena to St-Joseph. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts (Major in Psychology) from McGill University in 2012, having also acquired a degree in Communications and a certificate in Graphic Design. She has also worked in photography for over 10 years.

Arpad

We recently hired Arpad to be our director of political operations. Arpad was already involved in the pro-life movement, in his spare time, for the past few years. Two and a half years ago, he realized the influence that Christians in Quebec can have in the political process, which convinced him to start getting involved in politics. He has volunteered for pro-lifer Pierre Lemieux’s federal Conservative party campaign in 2019 and volunteered on Leslyn Lewis’s leadership campaign in 2020. His goal is to do his utmost so that in the next federal election in 3 years, all Christians and pro-lifers in Quebec will have a candidate in their riding who represents their values. 

Georges

I began my work at QLC as a grad student at McGill university. I had just joined the campus pro-life group—Choose Life McGill—and had watched a video of babies having been killed by abortion. I could no longer sit at a coffee shop writing about philosophy when I knew that a few blocks away someone was tearing a baby to pieces, and I was doing next to nothing about it. So I started organizing 40 Days for Life prayer campaigns outside of Montreal’s Morgentaler facility. We have since done about 20 of these. I became president of our organization in 2009. We have grown from 2 full-time to 6 full-time workers in the meantime. But we need your help to keep growing, praying and working towards a pro-life Quebec!

This is me with a 100% legal “Pro-Vie” (“Pro-Life” in French) licence plate. I never dared install it on my minivan because of the doubts I have about the insurance company covering the very probable graffiti and even fire damage that my vehicle would get due to the “provocative” message on its plate. If anything, our continuing work at QLC will make it possible for people like me to be openly Christian and pro-life in Quebec, without fear of reprisal!

Our fundraiser has so far been a great success. Over 130 people have given almost $11,000 dollars. We are only $4,350 away from our $15,000 goal! If you have already given, we thank you for your trust and your commitment to Life. If you haven’t given already, now is the time to help us towards our goal. Give today if you can.

God bless,

Georges Buscemi, President
Quebec Life Coalition / Campagne Québec-Vie

p.s This just in: Pro-life MP Kelly Block has an urgent message she has asked Quebec Life Coalition / Campagne Québe-Vie to send to you. She wants you to tell your MP to vote "yes" on Bill C-230 which will be voted on soon, after its 2nd reading on Thursday. This bill is about defending the Charter Rights of medical workers who object to taking part in any form of euthanasia or assisted suicide. Please contact your local MP today!

p.p.s. We could not do this work without you. Please give what you can, if you want Quebec and Canada to be Pro-Life.

In a prior email, I wrote that the obvious solution to abortion in Canada was a return to God. Let me explain how a central European country has done just that, with fantastic results for Life and Family. But first, let’s look at our current situation…

Quebec and Canada Need God

In the mid 1960s, during a period called “The Quiet Revolution,” Quebecers followed the elite of their day in rejecting Christianity. There followed a tsunami of abortions (less than 1,000 a year in 1971 to about 30,000 a year today), divorces (for every 100 marriages in a year, 50 divorces) and bad laws (e.g., same sex “marriage” in 2005, euthanasia in 2016). And unfortunately, the rest of Canada followed suit, seduced by a Quebecer, Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, and his ilk.

Today, drugged by their phone screens and chained to their comforts, most Quebecers and Canadians seem unable to pull themselves from the mire. And the overly subsidized mainstream media weigh on the minds of Canadians like lead, making sound reasoning almost impossible. Should we just give up?

Never. A change is possible. But one must want real change. We must want God back in our life, including in our country’s public life.

(Today is the 10th day of our 2-week fundraiser; if you have given already, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If not, we need about $7,500 to reach our $15,000 goal. If you want Quebec and Canada to be Pro-Life, please give today.)

Viktor Orban and “Christian Democracy”

Let us turn to another once oppressed people, the Hungarian people, who knew how, with the grace of God, to free itself from a state of mental and spiritual slavery to become a model for Europe and for the world.

Hungarians, now a proud people of 10 million souls, were groaning under the boot of communism as soon as WWII ended. They had more than the biased mainstream media oppressing them: they suffered from the communist yoke of the tyrant Stalin and his successors. In short, Hungary was a victim of total atheism, imposed at all levels, especially in politics.

In 1989, the USSR collapsed, and Hungary was free. On the other hand, this country risked falling into perhaps an even greater evil: that of devoting itself solely to money and comfort, as so many Western countries do today.

This is why in 2010 the Hungarian people gave themselves a leader, Viktor Orban, and a Fundamental Law (a Constitution), to protect themselves from worldliness. The Hungarians wanted to be neither communists nor liberals (i.e., indifferent to the good and to God), but Christians!

Let’s read a small part of this “Fundamental Law,” and see if we, as Canadians, can learn something from it.

“Fundamental Law of Hungary of April 25, 2011:

Bless the Hungarians, O Lord!

NATIONAL PROFESSION OF FAITH

WE, THE MEMBERS OF THE HUNGARIAN NATION, at the dawn of this new millennium, declare with responsibility for all Hungarians the following: we are proud that our King Saint Stephen has placed the Hungarian State on solid foundations by bringing our homeland into Christian Europe. We are proud of our ancestors who fought for the survival, freedom, and sovereignty of our nation. (…) We are proud that our people have fought for centuries to defend Europe, contributing to its common values ​​through their talent and diligence. We recognize the unifying virtue of Christianity for our nation. (…)

Human dignity is inviolable. Everyone has the right to life and human dignity; the life of the fetus must be protected from conception.”

Here is a Constitution worthy of the name; here is a people on the right track!

From 2010 onwards, faithful to its Fundamental Law, Hungary has valued its Christian heritage and implemented family-friendly policies, with the following, encouraging results:

• Between 2010 and 2020, the number of abortions has fallen by more than forty percent: from 40,449 to 23,901!
• The number of divorces has gone down nearly twenty-five percent from 23,873 in 2010 to 18,100 in 2021 and…
• The number of marriages has increased almost one hundred percent, from 35,520 in 2010 to 72,000 in 2021!

Once again, we see here a country on the right track!

The key: a society that is neither liberal nor atheistic, but Christian

What is the lesson to be learned? Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, sums up the lesson nicely, with the following words he spoke on July 28, 2018:

“Let us confidently proclaim that Christian Democracy is not liberal. […] Liberal democracy favours multiculturalism, while Christian democracy gives priority to Christian culture…”

And he continued:

“Although we may seem like a minority, many of us in Europe have the common goal of building Europe once again on the solid foundations of Christianity… Hungary has been following this path since 2010.”

In Quebec and Canada, we may seem like a minority of believers and pro-lifers who want to obey God in all facets of our life, but this active minority can become a movement for the reconstruction of Quebec and Canada on the solid foundations of Christianity…

… And Campagne Québec-Vie wants to be the spark to ignite such a movement in Quebec and across Canada. But we need your support.

If you can, please donate today.

Yours for Life,

Georges Buscemi, President
Quebec Life Coalition / Campagne Québec-Vie

p.s. We could not do this work, day in and day out, without you. We need about $7,500 to reach our $15,000 goal. Please give what you can, if you want Quebec and Canada to be Pro-Life.