Two sides of the pro-life coin

This week I listened to someone who shared a first hand account of what crisis pregnancy centres deal with every day. It broke my heart.

Without going into detail because of privacy--and I already knew this--CPCs and the people who work there are truly nothing like what the radical-hate-crisis-pregnancy-centre crowd will tell you. They are the most amazing loving caring compassionate people I have ever met. Each and every one of them. And I thank God they exist. Because I could not do that work.

But what I can tell you is this. The women who come to visit CPCs, and the people who work there need our prayers and our support, and especially lots of prayers.

What I am able to do, by they grace of God, is to go on my weekly visit to the nursing home where my sister Maureen and I volunteer every week. Even though some days I don't want to go. Like this week. I almost turned around and went home again. But I didn't and I'm glad I stayed.

One of the women who I've visited for the past three years passed away this week. She was a dear woman; nearly totally deaf; always in pain from sitting too long in her chair; who always loved when I or my sister would visit her. I would usually say a prayer with her and she was always thankful for this too.

After hearing this sad news, things looked up when Maureen and I took three residents outside to sit in the sun, to sing a few songs, and wear silly hats, and, this is the best part, laugh.

Maureen actually got one of the three who at first wasn't in a laughing mood, to laugh. And she LOVED her hat. That made my day.

There is such a need for volunteers to visit nursing homes. There are so many people there who don't get visitors. Who are alone. Who appreciate wearing a silly hat. Or saying a prayer. Or just someone to listen to them. Or to hold their hand.

It's really a blessing that I can go.

What does the Ontario NDP party REALLY stand for?

I sent the email below to the NDP candidate in my riding Lyra Evans, along with NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

I noticed that one of the anarchists who blocked our March for life was carrying an NDP election sign for Lyra Evans. The sign is clearly visible in the video below.

The stated intention of these counter protesters--many of them cowardly covering their faces--was in fact to "End the March for Life". They carried a banner stating this at the front of their sorry bunch.

In fact, if I'm not mistaken, in the picture in this article by Jonathon Van Maren on the March, it looks like NDP candidate Lyra Evans is actually holding that anti-democracy sign. That also contains a hammer and sickle. 

 From the Ottawa Citizen

As Jonathon writes on what the hammer and sickle actually represents is pretty scary:

"The Soviet Union wracked up a death toll of over twenty million, with nearly two million people perishing in the gulags and nearly a million being summarily executed in the first years of Stalin’s rule. Mao’s Red China took it even further, with an estimated 45 million Chinese perishing during the Great Leap Forward—which was actually fewer dead bodies than Mao had been anticipating. He originally thought that 52 million peasants would have to die in order for Communism to be sufficiently implemented. The flag that flapped over these staggering death counts was the Hammer and Sickle, a flag now proudly waved by those purporting to protest totalitarianism."

Is this what Andrea Horwath and her party stand for? A ban on free speech rights, freedom of assembly rights for pro-life people--and maybe even worse? I hope not.

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Dear Lyra,

I live in Ottawa Vanier.

I noticed at the March for Life there was a counter protester with one of your election signs. This group's purpose is to end the March for Life, a legal, peaceful protest done against abortion in Ottawa every year.



This group illegally stopped our March from continuing.

Can you please tell me if you support freedom of speech rights, and freedom of assembly rights for all citizens including pro-life people?

Thank you.

Patricia Maloney

March for life 2018 - the real reason the police do nothing

Dear Jim Watson and Chief Bordeleau,

The reason that 125 people made it up Elgin street from Confederation Park is because our Ottawa Police stood on the west side of Elgin and watched and did absolutely nothing. Why is that? Were they told to do so by one of you?

We were lawfully protesting, with a police-approved route. These others had an illegal protest with masks and therefore should have had to stay off the roads. But they didn't.

This video is quite telling. See our police standing by for four minutes. 

See more pictures of these counter protesters hiding their faces and yelling at us and this video.

Can you please explain to me and twenty thousand peaceful pro-life marchers are treated in this disdainful way? You do realize we pay taxes like these "pro-choice" people, right?

In fact, why can't you just be honest and tell us you treat us like this because we are pro-life?

Looking forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Patricia Maloney

March for life 2018

I have no problem with counter protesters at the March for Life. What I do have a problem with is that they succeed in blocking our route, courtesy of the Ottawa police. Just like last year. And the year before that. There were almost as many police as there were counter protesters; they could have easily prevented them from blocking us, but they chose not to.

If the counter protesters want to hold their own march, why don't they? I can guarantee you that we would not prevent them from doing so. Unlike these people, we would never call for an abolition of their right to protest, even though they want to end our right to protest with their slogans, their taunts, their hidden faces and their signs that read "End the March for Life".

I've let Mayor Jim Watson, my councillor Tobi Nussbaum and Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau know my thoughts on this. You should too. But I doubt it if I will receive a response. Just like last year.

@OttpoliceMedia @ChiefBordeleau @JimWatsonOttawa

Us (Thanks to Maureen for these pictures)

And them:

Ontario Attorney General's office withholds letters against abortion bubble zone

Further to this post on the Ontario abortion bubble zones FOI.

I noticed that there were no letters from the public who wrote and who were against the abortion bubble zone (except for my own letters). I then asked for copies of those letters from other members of the public who were also against the bubble zone.

Surely I wasn't the only person in Ontario who wrote such a letter?

Their response:

"Requests are handled differently for each ministry and issue/context. You have assumed that there is no personal information in the body of the letters, which is not the case for this request. The bodies of the letters contain specific information to the individual, their situation and own personal experiences with the topic, which as you know is highly sensitive."

Nonsense. If other departments can do it, so can the AG. And remember, I paid $552.50 for the privilege of obtaining this information.

I then replied:

"I have seem hundreds of letters sent to politicians where personal information has been redacted. This is the only time I've ever done a request where letters of non-support have not been included."

Apparently our attorney general's office doesn't have to follow the rules other government departments do. I wonder why that is?