Justice and Freedom

11 Jan 2011 MP Maurice Vellacott’s Letter to SK Justice Minister

  In light of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal's ruling that laws which would allow provincial officials to refuse to perform marriages against their religious beliefs would be unconstitutional, Member of Parliament Maurice Vellacott (from Saskatoon) wrote the following letter to the provinces Minister of Justice, urging him to consider Ontario's example. What follows is the letter:
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29 Jun 2010 Authoritative parents better at preventing kids’ binge drinking, study finds

Tralee Pearce, Globe and Mail Jun. 24, 2010: Peer influence is known to be a major factor in whether teens binge-drink. But it turns out that parents play a part as well: A Brigham Young University study reveals that those with an authoritative, nurturing style were the least likely to have children who drink heavily. [Read more here.]...

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14 Jan 2010 Two Pulpits Competing for Our Hearts:

The Influence of Secular Media in Reformed Homes By Mark Penninga (first printed in Reformed Perspective magazine, November 2009): The Reformed faith is challenged on many fronts. Some of these challenges we are well aware of. I’m guessing that everyone thirteen and older who attends a Reformed church has been warned many times of the danger of “Arminianism” and how we ought to be on the lookout for its ugly face in songs, books, and almost everywhere else. But other challenges we hear little about, regardless of whether they are even a greater threat to the faith. The influence of the secular media in Reformed homes is one such challenge that we are aware of but seem all too hesitant to respond to.
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05 Mar 2009 Historic Event on Parliament Hill (with pictures)

Update: Click here to listen to Dr. Van Dam's presentation. Click here for a PDF copy of it. In what may have been the first time ever, a Canadian Reformed minister and professor made a presentation on March 3rd before leaders from Canada’s Parliament. The event, organized by the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA) Canada, was titled “God & Government: A Biblical Perspective on the Role of the State.” It featured Dr. Cornelis Van Dam, professor of Old Testament at the Theological College of Canadian Reformed Churches. Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott and Liberal MP John McKay co-sponsored the event, allowing us to hold it right in Parliament.
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04 Feb 2009 Update: Chris Kempling’s Defence

In light of his leaving the public education system, the BC College of Teachers has dropped their most recent complaints against school teacher Chris Kempling. His case has been a difficult story of how living one's faith can lead to persecution, even in Canada. Kempling has been through years of hardship at the hands of the BCCT and finally had enough of the public school system. Now, in an effort to get the facts out to the public and expose the suppression of basic freedoms, Kempling has prepared this document and has given permission to ARPA Canada to post it on our website: 
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19 Jan 2009 President Obama

By Reverend Clarence Bouwman, Pastor: Yarrow Canadian Reformed Church This coming Tuesday the United States of America will receive a new president in the person of Barack Obama.  We understand and notice that whatever happens in the United States greatly affects us in Canada, and so we are greatly interested in what happens south of the line.  To some degree Mr Obama is well known, simply because the media has been full of him ever since he entered the public stage through his quest for the presidency.  On the other hand, there remain so many questions about what makes him tick. 
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27 Dec 2007 Are you conscious of your philosophy of life?

By Derek Stoffels Over the last few weeks I have been reading a book called “Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults and Swallow Citizens Whole.” It has been a difficult read but it raises some worthwhile points. The basic thesis of the book is stated provocatively in the title. The author Benjamin Barber asserts that capitalism (read business) has been so consumed with greed that it is destroying democracy. In contrast to that Barber claims that one hundred years ago capitalism and democracy worked well together. At that time capitalism served democracy by reinforcing the values and conduct that are needed for a wise citizenry. In Barber’s words capitalism was “…a needs-serving economic machine,…” Today it is a wants-stimulating economic machine out to profit itself at any cost.
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18 Dec 2007 Report Says Vancouver “Safe Injection” Site a Failure

By Gudrun Schultz  Lifesite NewsVANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 4, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Vancouver safe-injection site for drug addicts has not reached the goals that proponents of the facility claim, according to a new study published Wednesday in the Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice. The controversial Insite facility, the first of its kind in North America, opened as a pilot project over three years ago in Vancouver‘s notorious Downtown Eastside. Heroin or cocaine addicts are provided with clean needles and allowed to inject themselves with their own heroin or cocaine under a nurse’s supervision.
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