Much has been remarked about the new leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition, Thomas Mulcair, and his desire to move his party to the centre, or the centre-left, or the left-of-centre, recasting them as moderate progressives, or progressive moderates. Whatever the position may be called, will there be room in it for the religious left?

For those who are not paying attention, religion is thought to be the exclusive province of the political right. Yet the most religious caucus in Parliament today is that of the Green party, where 100% of its members (namely, Elizabeth May) are recent theology students aspiring to ordination. More broadly, clergy in Parliament are almost always on the left. Continue reading →

Two questions immediately arise from the Ontario Court of Appeal prostitution decision. The first is constitutional. The second is one of economics.

Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees everyone the “right to life, liberty and security of the person.” Is it plausible that Parliament, back in long ago 1982, desired to protect the right to run a brothel as part of our fundamental legal liberties? Habeas corpus indeed. Section 7 now apparently includes the right to sell one’s body for sex in a licensed establishment fully compliant with safe drinking water standards and the requisite no-smoking signs. Continue reading →

On Monday night, I was honoured to host the senior Catholic prelate from India, Cardinal Oswald Gracias, in Mississauga, Ontario. On Tuesday morning, a new archbishop – Christian Lépine – was announced for Montreal. In the 21st century, what will be more important for global Christianity – Mumbai and Mississauga, or Montreal? To even ask the question demonstrates how the tectonic plates of the universal Church are shifting. Continue reading →