On the interview portion of the program this week, Al talks with Saskatoon MP Maurice Vellacott about Bill 560, his attempt to redefine the basic rules of child custody in divorce cases.   He is suggesting a presumption of “equal shared parenting”.  Some have argued that the suggestion may actually work against the interests of very young children, and there’s also the notion that the Bill might inadvertently encourage marriage breakdown by making it less financially onerous to get a divorce.   Those questions and more are addressed in the interview.  

Final arguments have now been made before the Supreme Court of Canada in the Loyola case.  We have a very brief outline of the case on the program this week; you can watch a video of the presentations before the high court at this link.

Also this week, we look at some of the differences of opinion, even in the Reformed community, about childhood vaccinations.  Everyone agrees that this issue fundamentally comes down to parental rights, but is there an argument that the State should be able to over-ride those rights in certain circumstances?  The issue has prompted a fair bit of media coverage, including this article in the Vancouver Sun.   (There’s also been quite a bit of other media coverage, here,here, and here.)  ARPA lawyer Andre Schutten agrees that parental rights are paramount here, but he has also suggested four criteria that should be applied in any discussion that seeks to over-ride those rights.
The whole issues has also prompted a lot of discussion on the ARPA Facebook page; you’ll have to scroll down to find the exchange, but it clearly shows that even supporters of our organization are far from unanimous in their opinions of this issue.

Mark Penninga weighs in on a move in BC to redefine gender, and we take a look at some egregiously anti-Christian rhetoric in the Quebec election campaign.

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