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.
"Our message today with Flin Flon Pro Life is that we're trying to raise awareness for the good work that they are doing. It's more than just a pro-life message that has been typically stereotyped by the mainstream media," said Wally Daudrich, federal Conservative nominee for the Churchill riding. Daudrich, along with Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge of Winnipeg, visited with roughly 25 people last Thursday night to spread awareness of the value of life. "We're not just about encouraging birth," Daudrich told The Reminder. "We also are advocating for the elderly, for the disabled and for the disadvantaged. We want to get (the) message out that we are about good things, great things, and encouraging the value of life." Taking a pro-life stand can set an individual up for attack, but both Daudrich and Bruinooge agreed it is an issue close to their hearts. "I'm here in support of Flin Flon Pro Life and I, in general, support the pro-life cause," said Bruinooge, chair of the. Parliamentary Pro Life Caucus, a group of pro-life MPs. The roughly 25 people in attendance, including Marilyn Jackson of Flin Flon Pro Life, joined the politicians for an evening of information and supper. Flin Flon Pro Life has been in existence for a number of years, but it was revitalized in 2004 with the help of Jackson. At a conference Jackson attended in Winnipeg in 2004, a speaker made mention that the pro-lifers were becoming marginalized. In an effort to keep that from happening in Flin Flon, the group started with a billboard, which can be found on Highway 10 just two kilometres from the Sherridon turnoff. "We knew we had to make a big statement and that would be our focus Ð not to be marginalized," said Jackson. With that project, two years in the making, complete, the group was able to put on the information session at the Victoria Inn last week. "We've never had an opportunity to have an MP come to our community that is openly pro-life," said Jackson. "So, I was very excited when Wally sent out his advertising that said he had a pro-life stand and then, of course, Rod. "That's very exciting to have someone in Ottawa that is going to stand up for the unborn, the elderly and the disabled." Jackson made note that both politicians were on hand to offer their personal views as well as inform the audience of how the government works. "I've had the opportunity to talk to them already," she told The Reminder previous to Thursday's event. "I'm very impressed with what they have to say. "And I think one aspect is that when you are willing to put yourself out there and say that you support a very controversial issue like this, then to me, that says, I can trust you because you are willing to put yourself on the line." Daudrich said "we have lived in a post-abortion generation for the last 20 years and it has degraded the value of life. "I'm a very strong believer that we have to raise the awareness and the value of life in all of these areas Ð not just about abortion, but teen suicide, the physically challenged and just how we view ourselves," he said. In trying to step out of the "stereotype that...the larger mainstream media have put" them in, Daudrich says they are trying to raise the awareness of their beliefs, which are shared by many. "Of course in Canada right now, there is a bit of a movement to being about euthanasia," said Bruinooge. "Pro-lifers, like myself, tend to be the opposition to that. "We are the ones, I guess, that are at the front end of that debate, providing a different prospective," said Bruinooge. "That's part of the politics I do and here in Flin Flon, I've decided to come and support this group." Bruinooge passed on his beliefs. "Sometimes people aren't necessarily fully appraised to the fact that in Canada, we have on laws that surround the way we treat the unborn. In light of that, it creates this legal...political vacuum," he said. With such a controversial topic, Bruinooge said it can't be all one-sided. "I'm not someone that is saying that there can't be a compromise on this issue. I think there can be. And I think there is an opportunity for that in the future as we have more people see the light." Thursday's information session was a chance for the politicians to shake hands with a few fellow supporters. "We want to get out message out directly to the people and this is one of the ways that we are doing this," said Daudrich. He made note throughout the presentation that the value of life doesn't just refer to the unborn. "We have approximately two-thirds of our riding that looks more like a Third World country rather than the First World Ð which the rest of Canadians enjoy. "We want to raise that awareness and raise that value of life that seems to be lacking in so many remote communities. "We love people and we want to be able to take care of the needs of people." But the most common issue brought to the table when the words "pro-life" are spoken refer to abortion and the unborn. "We are living in what I would refer to as a post-materialist society," said Daudrich. "I'm not talking about Christmas, I'm talking about the lack of values Ð some spiritual and some values that we all used to rally around like taking care of our neighbours and taking care of those who are precious to us." Making note of his own five children, Daudrich says, "I love the people in the North and I want them to succeed."
