We Need a Law is kicking off its “lifeTOUR” this week, with stops in Moncton on Wednesday, Charlottetown on Thursday, and Halifax on Friday. On the feature interview this week, a discussion with WNAL Director Mike Schouten about what the Tour is hoping to accomplish within the context of the ongoing federal election campaign.

In the news, schools are back in session across the country, and in Ontario, the protests are continuing against the sex education component of the government’s new Health and Physical Education curriculum. The ARPA Chapter in Niagara is spearheading an awareness campaign on the issue, with strategically placed billboards and a website. Organizer Chris Hessels says the campaign is about “creating relationships that wouldn’t normally come together”, and “standing on common ground”. Those relationships involve, in large part, new Canadians; the immigrant community which sees the curriculum as a threat to traditional values. Pro-life activist Jonathon Van Maren has written a piece detailing what he says are “irreconcilable cultural forces“ that are on a collision course in this issue. We talk to Jonathon about that blog entry. 

Meanwhile in Alberta, parents continue to lobby against Bill 10, the new law that mandates the creation of “Gay-Straight Alliance Clubs” in all schools where even a single student requests them. The group “Parents for Choice in Education” (PCE) was planning a big rally this coming weekend, but they’ve now decided to postpone that until spring, focusing instead on collecting signatures on a petitionasking for changes to the law.   

PCE has also released a new study by economist Mark Milke, detailing the millions of dollars that Alberta taxpayers are saving because parents are sending their children to Christian and other independent schools.

And the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons has quietly released new policy guidelineson the issue of doctor-assisted suicide. The policy says that doctors who don’t want to participate in doctor-assisted suicide on moral or religious grounds will have to make “an effective referral to another health-care provider” for the procedure. The entire policy is still subject to a legal challenge, which will likely go before the courts sometime in the next year.