31 Jan 2017 Ontario Government Forced to Answer to Court for Censoring Abortion Stats

On Wednesday, February 1st, the Ontario government will be forced to answer for their censorship of abortion statistics in court. ARPA Canada, together with pro-life blogger Patricia Maloney, will argue that the censorship of abortion statistics is an infringement of freedom of expression, including freedom of the press, and that the censorship is unreasonable and unjustified.

ARPA Canada is devoted to promoting grassroots political action. We strive to give citizens, particularly Christian citizens, the tools they need to become politically engaged so they can be a voice for truth, justice, freedom, and human rights. But in order to do that properly, we need accurate information.

Freedom of information is protected by the Charter’s freedom of expression guarantee because without access to government information, a citizen cannot meaningfully discuss, debate, scrutinize or make informed opinions on matters of public policy.

This case is about transparency and democracy. In our view, the actions of a democratic government and the money it spends should be open to scrutiny by the taxpayer and voter. On this point, people from all sides of the political spectrum should join forces with us.

More importantly however, this case is about justice. Justice requires accountability. It is a scientific fact that each abortion takes the life of a unique human being. Even if many wish to condone or even celebrate this, nobody can deny that a human life has been taken. The way to deal with this is not to censor all abortion-related information. Rather it is to allow the truth to be known, and then to engage in meaningful public discourse about how to address the over 100,000 abortions that occur in Canada every year. There must be documentation, recognition and, hopefully one day, public acknowledgement of the injustice of abortion.

Provincial governments have a responsibility to ensure that there is access to the information needed to make good decisions about health policy. No matter what your thoughts are on pre-born human rights, this form of censorship is contrary to everything a just, open and democratic society should stand for. Our citizens deserve better.

ARPA Canada and Maloney filed suit against the Ontario government in April 2015, and they finally get their day in court tomorrow. The factum (written arguments) can be read here. ARPA Canada is particularly thankful for the hard work of staff lawyer John Sikkema (pictured hard at work preparing for the oral arguments) as well as lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos for their labours on this file.