The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Dear Editor, George W. Bush has just been re-elected President of the United States. I hear that he has received the greatest popular vote in the history of presidential elections. Pundits have attributed his success to his strong moral values: family and children. He is proudly pro-life and anti-abortion. He is also against same-sex marriage. He has been up front with his values. Americans knew what he stood for and re-elected him with a strong majority. I believe that Canadians are just as much for strong moral values as are Americans. The only difference is that we had no clear choice in our election. Our politicians have all opted for the abortion propaganda. The last five so-called Catholic Prime Ministers (Pierre Trudeau, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin) have been a disgrace to their Catholic faith. Homosexuals are only one per cent of the population. But they make so much noise that the media treats them as if they were a majority. I would not want to deprive one per cent of the population of their rights; nor do I think that they should control the other 99 per cent. Concerning abortions, even Dr. Henry Morgentaler will not do partial-birth abortions because they are babies. "I do not abort babies," says he, "only fetuses." He will not perform abortions in the third trimester because by that time the fetus has become a baby, says he. I say we Canadians had no choice. The only political party that hinted that it was for life and marriage was Preston Manning's Reform Party. When it formed an alliance with the Conservatives, who were no better than Liberals, and chose Harper as their leader, the game was over. Harper could not say a good word about pro-life in the debate with Paul Martin. He was weakly apologetic. He could have said that he would support women and give them a child allowance as soon as they become pregnant. That would not only recognize the value of women as mothers but would also recognize the humanity and personhood of the baby in the womb. It is my belief that had Harper been clearly pro-life and marriage, and anti-abortion, he would have won the hearts and votes of most Canadians. He would now be Prime Minister of Canada with an absolute majority government. His economic policies could never be as bad as the Liberals' with their billion-dollar waste in the gun registry and the sponsorship scandal, which is not over yet. In the next election, which I hope will not be too far off, if Canadians have a clear choice between life and death and virtue and vice, they will choose life and virtue. Sincerely, Fr. Denis Bourbonnais, O.M.I.
