INTRODUCTION TO THE OPEN LETTER AND REPORT TO VICE-PRESIDENT JD VANCE

By Georges Buscemi, President of Campagne Québec-Vie (Quebec Life Coalition)

As Canada and the United States approach the crucial July 21 deadline for concluding bilateral trade talks, Quebec Life Coalition -- a pro-life, pro-family group based in Quebec and partnered with national pro-life group Campaign Life Coalition -- is releasing an open letter and accompanying report (see below) addressed to U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, urging the Trump administration to condition future trade cooperation on Canada’s respect for freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and the right to peaceful pro-life expression.

[Click here for PDF version of the Open Letter and Accompanying Report]

In recent days, trade negotiations have stalled due to Washington’s concerns over Canada’s proposed digital services tax targeting large American tech firms. The recent decision by the Canadian government to rescind that tax appears to be an effort to reopen talks and improve its standing with the Trump White House. We believe this moment represents an opportunity—not just for economic recalibration, but for moral clarity.

Earlier this year, Vice-President Vance issued a strong warning to U.S. allies at the Munich Security Conference, stating unequivocally that the US is no longer willing to subsidize the prosperity of nations that do not share basic Western values. We at Quebec Life Coalition take him at his word—and urge him to apply that standard to Canada.

Our report lays out in detail the escalating persecution of Christians and pro-lifers in Quebec and across Canada:

• 50-meter “bubble zones” that criminalize peaceful prayer and sidewalk counseling;

• Government threats to revoke charitable status from pro-life and faith-based organizations;

• State-funded media monopolies and censorship;

• Proposals for legal bans on public prayer;

• And widespread discrimination against religious groups seeking to access public facilities or express their beliefs in public life.

This is not just a domestic concern. It is a human rights issue. Canada presents itself abroad as a model liberal democracy, but it is increasingly intolerant of dissent when it comes from those who uphold traditional Christian moral and social teachings.

Our goal with this publication is simple: to ensure that the Trump White House has all the information it needs to make an enlightened and just decision about how to proceed with Canada. The American people should not be asked to extend the privileges of trade and cooperation to a government that represses the very freedoms the U.S. was founded to defend.

And the Carney administration—should it wish to secure a favorable trade arrangement with its most important partner to the South—must understand that it cannot have free trade while denying free speech.

For the good of both nations, and for the countless citizens in Canada who can no longer speak or pray freely in public, we ask: let freedom be a condition of partnership.

[Click here for PDF version of the Open Letter and Accompanying Report]

Mr. Trump: Canada’s Crackdown on Christianity Must End Before Trade Begins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OTTAWA, June 11, 2025 — In light of escalating attacks by the Canadian federal government against pro-life and religious groups, including churches, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) will hold a press conference outside the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa this Thursday to call on the Trump administration to intervene on their behalf during the upcoming G7 Summit in Alberta.

Press Conference Details:
WHEN: Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 10:00 AM local time

WHERE: U.S. Embassy, 490 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, ON

WHAT: Press Conference & Petition Reveal

VISUALS: Public petition signed by more than 20,000 Canadians; delivery to Prime Minister’s Office to follow. A letter to U.S. President Donald Trump will be read by CLC National President Jeff Gunnarson and delivered to the U.S. Embassy.

Background:
As Canada continues an ongoing trade war with the United States, a different kind of war is being waged on home soil by the Canadian federal Government against its citizens: Religious freedom and freedom of speech are under direct attack.

Last December, an all-party Finance Committee tabled a report in Parliament with recommendations for the Federal Government to implement in the 2025 federal budget.

Two recommendations struck fear into the hearts of religious and pro-life citizens across the country:

1. Strip pro-life organizations of charitable status (Recommendation 429), and
2. Remove “advancement of religion” as a recognized charitable purpose under the Income Tax Act (Recommendation 430).

These measures, if adopted in the forthcoming budget, would undermine the legal standing and financial viability of churches, Christian charities, and pro-life organizations across Canada.

In contrast, the Trump administration’s stated foreign policy is to prioritize negotiations with countries that protect religious freedom and free speech. As President Trump prepares to visit Canada for the G7 meeting in Alberta this weekend, Campaign Life Coalition is calling on the U.S. administration to use its diplomatic leverage to speak out against this clear and present danger to the survival of faith-based and pro-life Canadian charitable institutions.

Following the press conference, a petition signed by over 20,000 Canadians will be delivered to Prime Minister Mark Carney. It demands that he immediately and unequivocally retract these proposals and defend the right of pro-life and religious organizations to exist without government interference.

Campaign Life Coalition rises with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, His Eminence Frank Cardinal Leo, interdenominational faith leaders, and pro-life leaders in defence of freedoms that our Charter of Rights and Freedoms calls “fundamental”: Freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

Resources:
House of Commons: PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATIONS IN ADVANCE OF THE 2025 BUDGET: Report of the Standing Committee on Finance

Government of Canada: Revocation tax

Western Standard: BAKLINSKI: Faith under fire... what it would mean if Ottawa ended religious charitable tax exemption

National Post: Raymond J. de Souza: Proposal to strip religious groups of charitable tax status would eviscerate Canada’s charities

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops: Important Concerns Regarding Recommendations 429 and 430 on Charitable Status

Frank Cardinal Leo, Archdiocese of Toronto: Regarding the recent Finance Committee’s pre-budget report

Evangelical Fellowship of Canada: Finance Committee's troubling recommendations on charitable status

Christian Legal Fellowship: Pre-Budget Recommendations impacting religious charities

Catholic Civil Rights League: CCRL Call to Action: Defend Charitable Status for Religious Organizations

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

March for Life in Quebec City – A Vital Mobilization in Troubled Times

Quebec City, May 30, 2025 – On the eve of the second annual March for Life in Quebec City, taking place this Saturday, May 31 at 11:00 a.m. in front of the National Assembly, Georges Buscemi, President of Quebec Life Coalition (QLC), is issuing a heartfelt call for Quebecers to stand up in defence of the right to life of every human being, from conception to natural death.

This march, organized in the very heart of Quebec’s capital, comes amid censorship of pro-life voices. The recent last-minute cancellation by the Delta Hotel of a peaceful, lawful pro-life dinner event — following anonymous threats and pressure from pro-abortion groups — is a troubling sign of the times. The hotel also abruptly cancelled more than 30 room bookings associated with the event.

“When the killing of unborn children is normalized and treated as a right, it comes as no surprise that intimidation and threats are used to silence those who defend life,” said Georges Buscemi. “What happened at the Delta is disgraceful — and the complicit silence of our authorities is alarming.”

A Matter of Fundamental Rights

As Quebec marks the 50th anniversary of its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, QLC reminds the public that the very first article of that Charter states: “Every human being has a right to life.” “Why is virtually no one talking about this anniversary?” asks Buscemi. “Could it be that this principle makes us uncomfortable, now that society refuses to recognize the humanity of the smallest among us?”

Saturday’s gathering aims to give voice to unborn children, to women hurt by abortion, and to all those who defend justice for the most vulnerable. The event will feature music, speeches, a peaceful march around Parliament, and testimonies from post-abortive women — including a woman who survived a failed abortion attempt.

A Climate of Tolerated Violence

The dinner cancellation followed a campaign of intimidation carried out by self-identified “antifascist” groups who publicly posted their threats on social media. According to QLC, these groups operate with disturbing leniency from authorities. “One has to wonder whether these groups have effectively become state-tolerated ideological militias, doing the dirty work the government can’t legally do,” Buscemi said.

A Call to Action

Despite this pressure, Georges Buscemi invites all citizens of good will to join the March for Life, rain or shine:

🗓 Saturday, May 31, 2025
🕚 Starting at 11:00 a.m., in front of the National Assembly, Quebec City

“Rain must not stop us. Our moral outrage at abortion and the threats against pro-lifers should move us to action. We must rise up now, because in Quebec, human life is being abandoned — and the elites remain shamefully silent.”

QLC also calls on authorities to show consistency and courage by upholding the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, even when it runs counter to the dominant media narrative.

Media Contact:

Georges Buscemi
President, Quebec Life Coalition
📧 [email protected]
📞 514-928-4819

Media Advisory

A historic first: March for Life in Quebec City on June 1

Quebec City, May 27, 2024 - This Saturday, June 1, will mark a historic moment for Quebec City, with the first-ever March for Life in the province. This event joins the ranks of Marches for Life organised worldwide, including the one in Ottawa - founded 27 years ago - which brought together thousands of demonstrators on Parliament Hill on May 9, and the one in Washington D.C., founded in 1974, which drew nearly 100,000 participants in January.

The Quebec City March for Life is intended to be a festive, family-friendly event, while addressing serious issues with far-reaching consequences for Quebec society: attacks on human life such as abortion and euthanasia, often referred to by the euphemisms "voluntary interruption of pregnancy" and "medical aid in dying" respectively.

"It's high time Quebec had its own March for Life," says Georges Buscemi, President of Quebec Life Coalition, the organisation organising the event. "A society that wants to show solidarity with the marginalised and vulnerable cannot continue to ignore the unborn children targeted by abortion, who are the most vulnerable and ignored people there are.”

Organisers are expecting hundreds of pro-life demonstrators from across the province. The rally will start at 11am at the Tourny Fountain, opposite the Quebec National Assembly. Musical entertainment will precede the speeches, which will begin at noon and end at 1pm, when the march through the streets of Quebec City will begin. The march will conclude at the National Assembly, where, from 3pm, testimonies from women and men affected by the abortion issue will be presented. The annual event will end at 4pm.

Dr. Paul Saba, a family doctor in Montreal, will be present at the event, accompanied by two sisters in their thirties who will share their experiences of imminent abortions on the operating table and their decisions to keep their babies at the last minute. Dr. Saba believes that mothers who want to have children should be supported. "It's a question of social justice. Mothers should not be pushed into having abortions because they lack financial, social and psychological support. We must guarantee them affordable housing, reasonable incomes and food security."

For more information on the March for Life in Quebec City, please visit www.marchepourlavie.quebec and www.cqv.qc.ca.

Media contact :
Georges Buscemi
President of Quebec Life Coalition
(514) 928-4819; [email protected]