VIDEO: Mark Steyn: Is Canada the exception to a worldwide trend?

It's been a while since we had some straight talk from Mark Steyn. Last week the erstwhile citizen of the Anglosphere was in Canada for the Manning Conference, a conservative get-together akin to the CPAC conference in the USA. The Rebel's Brian Lilley cornered him for a wide-ranging interview on Trump, Brexit, Le Pen, and the trend to populism. How much longer will Canadians stand for the Trudeau government's liberal elitist nonsense? Check it out. Running time: 13 minutes.

Liberal government of Ontario plans further attack on parental rights

Faced with the certainty of a crushing defeat in the next provincial election, Ontario's Liberal (mis)government, led by proudly lesbian Premier Kathleen Wynne, has introduced yet another measure to push gender ideology into the courts, schools and adoption/child protection services, and further reduce the rights of parents to raise their children without interference by the nanny state.

Ontario is one of the most liberal, most politically correct jurisdictions in North America. Following 14 years of Liberal misrule, Ontario boys can be considered girls, and girls can be considered boys. Ontario kids are being taught a sex-ed curriculum written by a convicted child pornographer -- Doctor (((Benjamin Levin))) -- and supported by both the fragrant Ms Wynne and Patrick Brown, the leader of the province's so-oxymoronical "Progressive Conservative" opposition.

Last month Ms Wynne's government introduced Bill 89, in the Ontario legislature. Laughably called the Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act, the new law will do nothing of the kind. In fact it will do the opposite of what its title proclaims. The bill is an attack on parental authority and will ultimately harm children.

By expanding the application of the definition of what is "a child in need", the bill, when it becomes law, will displace children from their family home even where there really is no need. Also, by pushing gender ideology onto child services, child protection, foster and adoption service providers, the bill will force judges to take into consideration a child's "gender identity and gender expression".

According to Agent 3, Bill 89 also attacks the right of parents to direct their children's religious upbringing. Parents and those who stand in loco parentis (and Children's Aid Services et al.) must bring up the child in accordance with the child's creed -- whatever that is. For example, if a child who is somehow determined to be a Rastafarian is placed with Catholic foster parents, they must do nothing to convert the child to the Christian Faith.

By eliminating the religious faith in a child's upbringing as an element of "services" to the child, Bill 89 diminishes the important role parents play in the spiritual and moral development of a child. Similarly, foster and adoptive parents will be treated unjustly if they don't subscribe to gender theory and/or ideology. For instance, if a child equipped with a penis, but who "identifies" as a female, is placed in care, the foster parents or care providers mustn't so much as question the child's "gender choice". They might even be required to assist the child in obtaining "gender reassignment therapy" (= a sex-change operation).

Walt predicts that, although ordinary Ontarians may oppose it (see link to petition below), Bill 89 will sail through the politically correct legislature. Walt further predicts that one of the unintended consequences of the new Act will be a dramatic decrease in the already low number of good-hearted people willing to adopt or act as foster parents. What's the point of being a foster parent or adopting a child if you can't bring up children according to the family values that you know are right and good for them.

Dear Ontario readers... If you fear for the future of your province, as well you might, you must let your voices be heard. The more you remain silent (for fear of being labelled as "old-fashioned" or "unprogressive" or "homophobic"), the more freedom you give up.

Tanya Granic Allen, President of Parents as First Educators, and Queenie Yu, a real conservative activist, plan on testifying before the government committee charged with studying the bill. They hope to present a petition against the bill, with 1000s of signatures, to place on record the fact that Ontario families are not OK with Bill 89 and the Wynne pro-queer agenda. Click here to read more about the bill, and sign the petition! Tell them Walt sent you.

Canada to fund killing of 1000s of Third World babies

In the sort of humanitarian gesture for which its elitist liberals are famous, Canada's International Development Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau will announce this week that her alleged country will support a global "safe-abortion fund" set up in response to... wait for it... President Donald Trump's order banning American financing for any organizations that promote killing of unborn children.

Speaking to the Globe and Mail while on a junket to Amman, Jordan, Ms Bibeau said Canada will join an international campaign to fill a US$600 million gap left by President Trump's reinstatement of the so-called "global gag rule" prohibiting funding to international organizations that fail to disavow abortion. This is part of an initiative called "She Decides", sponsored by the Netherlands. The idea, you see, is to promote human development and help the world's poor by killing them before they are born, thus keeping population under control. Got it?

Ms Bibeau is touring the Armpit of the World (the Middle East) this week to announce that Canada will provide C$240 million (about $182 million in real money) over three years to address humanitarian needs in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. The latter two countries are already benefiting from Canadian assistance in reducing filthy cities like Raqqa, Palmyra and Mosul to rubble. The additional funding will be used to rebuild the shattered cities and support the basic needs of those hit hardest by the Muslim civil war, including food, shelter, health care, water, sanitation, hygiene, and... of course... abortion.

On a totally unrelated note... a new report from the Toronto Dominion Bank (TSX symbol "TD" -- worth a look!) predicts that Canada's budget deficit for this year could be as high as C$34 billion (roughly $26 billion US) -- $5 billion higher than the Liberal government planned for last March, thanks to weak economic growth and, errr, pouring beaverbucks down Third World ratholes. Good thing for the Gliberals that Canucks aren't allowed to vote until 2019!

Catholic prelates warn of dangers of Muslim immigration

Speaking at a conference on religion and migration yesterday, the Roman Catholic archbishops of Prague and Bratislava issued a frank warning yesterday that a flood of immigrants can pose dangers to society, and a surge in Islamic immigration raises special concerns.

Most Rev. Dominik Duka, Archbishop of Prague, said, "If there is migration that is unprepared and without any prospects, the whole society may disintegrate." He said that immigration must be subject to reasonable controls, which would "take into account not only the well-being of the afflicted, but we also necessarily protect the population of the host countries."

"The experience and current state of immigration in Western European countries are a sort of warning," the prelate added. "This is not any problem of the past five years, this is a problem of several decades." The Chairman of the Czech Bishopric Conference went on to say that "throughout the history of mankind, unregulated migration invariably brought violence, wars and an economic, cultural and social downfall."

Most Rev. Stanislaw Zvolensky, Archbishop of Bratislava, added a special concern about the massive influx of Muslim immigrants, noting the number of terrorist attacks by groups claiming Islamic motivation. "The facts can logically result in the conclusion that the bigger the Muslim community, the higher the likelihood of violent acts."

The prelate added that the influx of refugees was likely to affect Europe. "The arrival of thousands of migrants from the Muslim world can basically alter our civilization," he said. "We may not sustain the encounter primarily for demographic and cultural reasons in the course of decades." The countries of Western civilization had Christian roots, he explained, but the influence of Christianity on Western culture and society is on the wane.

Source: "Prague archbishop warns of uncontrolled migration", Prague Daily Monitor, 22/2/17. Walt's emphasis.

Further reading: "There Can Be No Living Together", by Jim Goad, Taki's Magazine, 20/2/17.

Your prayers, please, for John Vennari

Dear Catholic friends, in your prayers today, please remember John Vennari, editor of Catholic Family News, a beloved husband, a father and dear friend. He was told by his doctors yesterday that he is now in the "active stages of dying," and may not live to see his birthday tomorrow.

John wishes everyone to know that he's not in pain. He wishes us all to know that "either we believe in Divine Providence or we don't. I believe in it, and I know that God has known for all eternity that I would be here in this hospital today, ready to die."

John also believes in miracles, as do I. Anything is possible with God. He wants us all to know that he's ready, that he loves God, and that his faith is so much stronger than his body just now. He wants our prayers.

Please pray also for his dear wife, Susan, seen here with his children and some Catholic friends at the Vigil of Our Lady of Fatima, in Portugal in 2006. And please pray for John's beloved young daughters, Elizabeth and Philomena, and for his loyal son, Benedict, but especially for their dad who they love and cherish and respect deeply.

Thank you, John, for everything. God is with you, Mary is at your side and thousands of your brothers and sisters in Christ are with you right now, every step of the way, united with you in prayer. You are not alone, and your unshakable faith shines like a beacon for us all. Pray for us, John. God bless you, and Mary keep. St. Philomena and Our Lady of Fatima—please pray for our brother John.

PS from Walt: This text has been adapted from an e-mail received from Michael Matt, editor of The Remnant. Thank you, Michael, for passing this along.

Happy birthday, Comrade Bob!

Further to "Mugabe's corpse could win next Zimbabwe election, widow-to-be says" (WWW 18/2/17), Walt hopes that Brian Gable, the Globe and Mail's estimable editorial cartoonist, will not mind our reposting of this graphic representation of this weekend's birthday celebrations for Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President for Life and Beyond.

"Dutch Trump" reveals REALLY tough policy on migrants

So you think President Trump is coming down hard on bogus "refugees" and other illegal immigrants? Meet Geert Wilders, leader of the Dutch populist Freedom Party (PVV). Netherlanders go to the polls on March 18th, and current opinion polls show PVV on track to win about 30 seats, which would make them the largest party in the new parliament.

What is it that makes Meneer Wilders and the PVV so popular? Glad you asked! It's the Dutch pushback against the invasion of their country by hordes of "refugees", asylum-seekers and other, mostly Muslim, third-world "migrants". Encouraged by Brexit and the election of President Trump [Are you SJWs getting used to it yet? LOL. Ed.] to believe they can turn things around, Dutch voters will be heading to the polls to vote for the PVV's frankly anti-immigrant platform, which includes "zero asylum", the de-Islamization of the Netherlands, the revoking of all "asylum" grants, the banning of all immigration from Muslim nations, and withdrawal from the European Union.

If you can read Dutch, click here to see the PVV election platform. They promise to:

• close Holland's borders
• revoke all existing "asylum" residence permits
• close all "refugee welcome centres"
• ban Islamic headgear
• denaturalize all criminal immigrants with dual nationality
• keep ISIS supporters who fought in Syria from re-entering the country
• close all mosques and Islamic schools
• leave the European Union
• institute a system of binding citizens' referenda
• cancel all public funding for “foreign aid,” and
• lower taxation as state expenditure drops.

Wow! Wouldn't you, dear AABC [American, Australian, British, Canadian] reader, love to see that programme implemented in your country? I want to believe it is possible to take our countries back from the third world invaders. There are precedents! Click here to read the story of Santiago Matamoros (Saint James the Slayer of Moors), who drove the Muslims out of Spain (WWW 24/7/14).

The PVV's hard-line policy has provoked a storm of protest from all the other parties in the Netherlands, who have called for a "cordon sanitaire" around the PVV to try and prevent it from taking part in a coalition government. During a recent television interview, Mr Wilders predicted PVV would be included in the next government, in spite of other parties' vowing not to work with him. "They'll have to [abandon their pledges]," he said. "You can' just shove two and a half million people aside after democratic elections. That would be very ill-advised."

Mr Wilders tweeted that there would be a non-violent revolt if the PVV was sidelined, and pointed out that an alternative left-right coalition would have to encompass five or more parties. "This will prove unworkable, and that kind of coalition would be so unstable that not only will it not serve the country, but it will be lying on its ass within a year, to put it crudely," he said. "The [immigration] sluices are wide open. We have to close our borders. Before the end of this century, Africa's population is going to increase from one to four billion people, and many of them want to come here. Only if you go to the polling booth and vote, can the Netherlands be ours once again."