I received a wide range of responses to the Communiqué I wrote in early September. I wanted to address the why of working for the CHP not the how or the what. There was a lot that I left unsaid.

One person responded by suggesting that we need to look at what is wrong with Canada and “bring healing.” I think this person understood what I was saying but it serves to illustrate my point. This is ’cause and effect’ thinking—something we do (the cause) creates good in the nation (the effect)—and I do not believe this is the right frame of mind for us if we are to be successful. Instead, we need to have a “promise and obligation” mindset. We are obliged to sacrifice ourselves—our time, money, energy, even our very lives—for the good of our neighbour, and God promises that He will bless that sacrifice. But our focus must be solely upon God and His glory. It’s a subtle thing, I agree, but the language we use deeply influences the actions we take; if we make “promise and obligation” the language we use, we will be less likely to fall into all the traps the Enemy sets for us.

Another correspondent thought I meant that it was sufficient to simply “try our best and let God do the rest.” I can see, now, how one might get this impression but it was not my intention.

God is not glorified by mediocrity. Our God is perfect and able to do all that He wills. As His image bearers we must strive to reach this standard. Moreover, we are poor heralds of our God, indeed, we encourage others to mock him if we act foolishly and ineffectually in His name.

Jesus’ parables are immensely comforting. The parable of the talents, for example, tells us that we must use what we are given to increase God’s glory in the world. The bare minimum, he said, is the low risk investment of putting it in the bank, but that’s the minimum. It is possible that our investments into God’s glory may not yield anything; they may even be lost altogether but our status as servants will not be affected by that loss. So let us be encouraged to do those things we expect to yield the greatest income of glory for our Saviour.

But what should we do?

Everything seems to come down to money. It takes money to do anything but you are too responsible to simply give your money because we ask for it; you need to know that something useful is going to be done with it. This creates a catch-22 of sorts.

The solution to the impasse lies in Lewis’ law of lesser and greater good. The lesser good, in this instance, is raising money and making the party bigger and stronger. It is easy to focus on these things, and so far it has been of marginal benefit. Let’s look at a greater good, for instance, telling people about the injustice that lives within Canada.

During the election, Mike’s campaign team developed a powerful little brochure which started with the proposition, “In Canada, where you live determines if you live.” It was, as you might guess, a pro-life brochure. We put Mike’s face on it, and contact information, but it was not about Mike at all; it was about telling the people of our riding about the injustice that abortion presents. More than 40 people showed up one Saturday to hand deliver several thousand of the brochures and we let Canada Post do the rest. We had more response from that brochure than any other thing we did. Moreover, because we made this explicitly about abortion, we were able to get broad support from people who were not particularly interested in getting Mike elected but were interested in spreading the word about abortion.

There are no restrictions on how much we can communicate between elections. If we raise the money, we can do pretty much what we want. So our EDA is going to deliver a variation on that brochure probably sometime in the new year. And then, we’re going to try to do a new one every six months. Each one is going to cost about $20,000 to develop, print and deliver. The purpose is simply to give Canadians in our riding the information they’re not getting from the government or media.

Why not leave it up to pro-life groups and other organizations? Quite simply, we can do it better and more effectively than they can.

In order to send out a brochure, we need to find 50 people willing to donate $400 each to the EDA. Because we are a registered EDA, each of those people is going to get a $300 tax credit from the federal government. A tax credit counts as taxes paid, so it literally means that donors are telling the federal government to fund our EDA. Moreover, because those donations are directly linked to the prolife brochures we are going to run, donors are compelling the federal government to pay $15,000 to promote pro-life issues. Too often we see the government squandering our money on parties for celebrities or on things that destroy the family; here, at least, we have control over where the government spends our money.

South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale is willing to run point on this, so to speak. We think that every EDA could be doing this but it’s very difficult to develop all the material, so we’ll take the risks and develop the materials, as well as the marketing material that will help you go to your local pro-life group and uncover new sources of donations. If your EDA wants to get involved and make a real change in the country, then send me an email at adam@sswrc.ca.

The obligation is that there are real things that we can do today that will glorify our God. The promise is that He will bless that work and our nation through those things.

Our party’s name—the Christian Heritage Party of Canada—states clearly what we strive to protect: Canada’s Christian Heritage – a heritage rich in blessings from God, which has given us a nation the entire world wants to emulate, and to which millions desire to immigrate.

What’s now being allowed by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) will mean a further deterioration of the Judeo-Christian foundation our nation has cherished since long before Confederation. And Canadians have the right to be informed now of the dangers implicit in the TDSB’s pusillanimous actions. European political leaders waited until it was too late, and are only now speaking out publicly against Sharia in their countries; they should have responded earlier to its creeping influence—also known as “stealth jihad.”

If you look at what has happened in Germany, England, France, and Holland, what we are seeing in Canada today is only a hint—a foreshadowing—of radical Islamic intimidation. Demands for “unreasonable accommodation” and “intolerance of other faiths” will only increase, as they already have in Europe.

This threat is very real. Supporters of Sharia have already brought intimidation, violence, and terror to European nations. The equality of Canadians is now threatened. CHP Canada is the only federal political party willing to warn Canadians.

We demand that our elected representatives—at both the provincial and federal levels—protect Canadians from what has happened in Europe!

Canada’s Judeo-Christian heritage is what has given us the freedoms that our founding fathers envisioned, and that our parents and grandparents have enjoyed since Confederation. The freedom of speech, the freedom of assembly, the freedom to criticize our government (because it is ours—it belongs to us), and the freedom of religion, faith, or spiritual belief without fear of persecution or intimidation—all these are founded on our Judeo-Christian culture. And they are foreign to the culture of radical Islam.

It was accepted throughout our history that our Parliament, our courts, and schools were opened with a Christian prayer each day. What a paradox that Christian prayer, which can be legitimately credited for the freedoms we have always cherished, is now being removed from every facet of Canadian public life—at a time when those very freedoms are under threat.

CHP Canada strives to ensure that all Canadians—including Muslims—are protected from radical Islamic ideology. Islamic ideology calls for the imposition of Sharia, many aspects of which are contrary to our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Muslim women are especially subject to abuse and degradation under Sharia law. Remember Miss Aqsva Parvez of Mississauga, Ontario? She was killed by her father and brother simply because she wished to live as a Canadian!

Sharia, wherever it is the dominant culture, allows for such “honour” killings and violence against women. It imposes on them genital mutilation and unwanted child marriages, and denies them equal value and equal protection of the law. Sharia denies religious freedom in countries where it is practiced, and demands punishment—even execution!—for those who convert to other faiths.

The degradation of Muslim women is already being demonstrated by the TDSB’s cowardly submission to Islamism, in that female students have to pray at the back of the room and—worse yet—young ladies who are menstruating are sent to the very back, and not allowed to pray. That is not equality! And it cannot be tolerated in our country!

I ask: Where are our Members of Parliament when we really need to hear from them?

Let’s not be caught off-guard, as European countries have been. We must ensure that all immigrants abide by the same values and the equal administration of the rule of law. Indeed, that is a Biblical commandment: “One law shall be for the native-born and for the stranger who dwells among you.” (Exodus 12:49, emphasis added.)

Canada, as part of the British Commonwealth, owes its distinct cultural heritage to a Judeo-Christian worldview whose influence on government dates back to the Magna Carta of 1215. Our laws, customs, and freedoms can be traced directly to this heritage. The Islamic worldview has a different foundation. History has shown that radical Islam will not co-exist with our Judeo-Christian worldview.

In Canada, there must be a separation of religion and the state—the state must not impinge upon the rightful domain of the church; nor should any organized religion govern Canada. Sharia ideology does not permit such a separation. Islamic ideology is totalitarian. Sharia controls all areas of life! The constant pressure to transform Canada into an Islamic state must be resisted by all who love liberty, freedom and democracy.

Look at what European leaders are saying:

In Norway, Siv Jensen, Leader of the Progress Party said this:

We agree with her! Women in Canada—including Muslim women—must always have the same rights as men.

In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel, said that the onus is on immigrants to do more to integrate into German society. She said: “This [multicultural] approach has failed – utterly failed.”

Norway, Germany, France, Sweden, and England are realizing today that they waited too long to speak out against creeping Sharia and Islamic intimidation. Let’s not make the same mistake in Canada!

CHP Canada expects all immigrants to acknowledge and respect our rule of law, and to respect Canada’s cultural heritage, rooted in a Judeo-Christian worldview, that provides us (and them) with the foundation of our national identity and laws.

The choice to live in Canada must be accompanied by patriotism and loyalty to Canada: loyalty to our rule of law, to the protection of our liberty, our freedom, and our democratic principles. Previously held traditions and legal systems that are incompatible with Canada’s culture and law must be discarded!

This decision by the TDSB must be reversed! Our Federal Government must get involved, to ensure all Canadians—including Muslim women—have the same privileges, wherever they go in Canada!

Four months ago, I managed the federal election campaign for CHP candidate Mike Schouten here in Cloverdale. We thought we ran an excellent campaign. We spent months before the writ dropped meeting reporters, writing letters to the editor, and issuing press releases to establish our presence in the riding. During the campaign we created several videos, distributed tens of thousands of flyers, and made an excellent showing at both all-candidates’ meetings. On election night, we didn’t do nearly as well as we thought we could; but we were content. But on verification day, we discovered that—due to a simple clerical error on election night—nearly a third of our votes actually belonged to another candidate.

During this summer Mike and I have done a lot of soul searching.

In a little more than half a year, we will once again meet in Abbotsford for CHP Canada’s national convention. We’ll elect a new board, and discuss policy and strategy. Old friends will become reacquainted, and new friendships will form. We’ll look at the last quarter-century, and plot a course for the next. In the months since the election, I have had a number of ideas that I’m looking forward to sharing with you at the convention.

But do you know what I’ve learned over the last four months? None of it matters. Not the campaign, not the convention, not a single one of my wonderful ideas.

In his 1942 essay “First and Second Things”, C.S. Lewis says, “The woman who makes a dog the centre of her life loses, in the end, not only her human usefulness and dignity but even the proper pleasure of dog-keeping. The man who makes alcohol his chief good loses not only his job but his palate and all power of enjoying the earlier (and only pleasurable) levels of intoxication. It is a glorious thing to feel for a moment or two that the whole meaning of the universe is summed up in one woman—glorious so long as other duties and pleasures keep tearing you away from her. But clear the decks and so arrange your life (it is sometimes feasible) that you will have nothing to do but contemplate her, and what happens?… Every preference of a small good to a great, or a partial good to a total good, involves the loss of the small or partial good for which the sacrifice was made.”

This principle—that we lose the greater good when we sacrifice all for the lesser good—is evident in the conclusion of the late Jack Layton’s letter to Canadians: “My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”

The very thing we cannot do is say, “let us…and we will change the world.” This thing, this making things better, is a second thing; and if we strive to do it we will lose it. For nearly a century—certainly since the first World War—the overriding goal of our civilization was the preservation or improvement of it, to which Lewis asked, “if it were true that civilization will never be safe till it is put second, that immediately raises the question, second to what? What is the first thing? The only reply I can offer here is that if we do not know, then the first and only truly practical thing is to set about finding out.”

Like Lewis, we know the first thing. The Apostle Paul told us the answer, for instance, in his letter to the Ephesians, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph 3:20, 21, ESV.)

The reason I managed—and hope to manage again for many elections to come—Mike Schouten’s campaign; the reason I will be a delegate at this next convention, and for many to come; the reason I will continue to donate my money, time, and ideas to CHP Canada has nothing to do with the effect I hope they’ll have. I must do all these things, only so that God would be glorified throughout all generations; and I know that when I put God first, He will do far more abundantly than I can ask or think—and that is sufficient.

So I hope you will join me next year in Abbotsford to set the course for CHP Canada. Not after the manner of Captains Ahab (pursuing Moby Dick, the great white whale) or Stubing (of Love Boat fame), but after the manner of Reepicheep—in my mind, C.S. Lewis’s greatest mortal character—who said, “While I can, I sail east in the Dawn Treader. When she fails me, I paddle east in my coracle. When she sinks, I shall swim east with my four paws. And when I can swim no longer, if I have not reached Aslan’s country, or shot over the edge of the world in some vast cataract, I shall sink with my nose to the sunrise.”

If we seek God’s Kingdom with such singular purpose, we may find that our country flourishes; to which we will say: “to God be the glory, great things He has done.”

Last Friday, the results of the HST referendum in BC were announced, with the conclusion that almost 55% of those who cast a vote were in favour of scrapping the HST and reverting to the old system of GST and PST. This may have raised a few eyebrows in the rest of the country in terms of why such a result. Regardless of the merits of the actual policy, I want to focus on other aspects of this process which may have application to us as a political party.

For the benefit of our national audience, I may remind you that this process came about as a result of the provincial Liberal government’s introduction of the harmonization of the GST and PST shortly after the election in 2009. What got many people upset is that during the election, the governing party denied that it was contemplating doing this; whereas subsequently it was discovered that they had been in negotiations with the federal government all along and simply lied about it.

This precipitated a petition process which eventually resulted in the calling of the referendum on the question. The pro- and anti-HST forces mobilized themselves and were even given funds from the public purse to advocate their positions. The government, as well as many business groups, got involved to persuade the population of the merits of their side of the issue.

There are some lessons to be learned for us as a political party; they involve a number of things.

First of all, organization: a determined number of people got together and organized at the grassroots level, getting people to sign petitions to gather enough support to be able to force the calling of a referendum. The bar was set fairly high in terms of numbers required, yet the results were achieved through sheer hard work and persistence.

Secondly, leadership: in order for a grassroots movement such as this to succeed, a degree of leadership is necessary. The anti-HST forces found such a leader in the person of a former premier of the province, Bill Vanderzalm. He was able to articulate the issues involved and get the attention of the media because of who he was. The bottom line is that leadership matters! It’s incumbent upon us to foster leadership at all levels to enable the party’s views to be expressed through the personality of leaders. In our culture, that matters. One can’t help but reflect on that point especially after all of the publicity attendant on the passing of Jack Layton. His qualities were no doubt exaggerated by the public and media and his cause is not one we would ever espouse.

However, we have someone infinitely more worthy to look up to, whose words and message ought to inspire us, namely our Lord and Saviour. Let’s always look to him for guidance.

Thirdly, determination: a group of citizens united around a cause and determined to succeed, can be a powerful voice in a democratic society. That can be a force for good or for ill, depending on one’s point of view. We have seen the latter in abundance in much of the Arab world this summer. Using the tools available to us, such as elections, and participation in a political party, with determination enables us to make a difference.

Finally, a galvanizing issue: in the case of BC it was resistance to an unwanted tax and anger about having no say in the matter that helped to push people to support the anti-HST campaign. In the February 1/11 issue of the Communique, I issued a clarion call as follows: “We need a grassroots movement of Christians from across this country to join a distinctly Christian party which is prepared to stand up for truth and justice and life.” I’m repeating that call now; every day as we witness the increasingly deadly culture of our world taking shape is a day that we should be busy with our political task. We have the galvanizing issues such as noted above. We now need to join the power of organization and leadership together with a motivated membership at all levels. We also need the determination to work hard in every way possible. Let’s remember those two powerful words often quoted in the past: ora et labora. Pray and work. Doing both with equal fervour will enable us to move forward under the blessing of our God.

By the time you read this, it will already be 100 days since the last federal election. What have we gained with this new majority government and its Orange Opposition?

First of all, we have a majority government with a Prime Minister many supporters claim is “personally pro-life,” but who has done nothing to show it; who told Peter Mansbridge and a nation of listeners last winter that “those who want to reduce the number of abortions have to change hearts, not laws”—but has not lifted a finger to do either. This Prime Minister has said repeatedly, “…a Conservative government under Stephen Harper will not entertain any discussion of the abortion issue.”

Along with the Conservative majority, we now have a new Opposition in the New Democratic Party (NDP). In a dramatic shift, many long-time Quebec supporters of the distinctly anti-federal Bloc shifted en masse to the aging NDP, giving the late Jack Layton and his ideological allies the keys to Stornoway, increased funding and perks, and greater access to the front-page squabble-scribble that in recent years has come to replace responsible political journalism.

Of course, in every issue but Quebec sovereignty, the NDP shares the same political DNA as the Bloc, so the shift reflects a change of strategy, more than of goals. This was clearly revealed by the appointment as Interim Leader of Nycole Turmel, a former Bloc member and a continuing member of Québec Solidaire, a radical near-communist (says Eric Duhaime), anti-Israel (says Ray Hearn), provincial political party.

Ironically, the surge in the polls and his new role as Leader of the Official Opposition came at a difficult time for Mr. Layton personally. With the return of cancer, Mr. Layton had manfully turned over his hard-won responsibilities to Nycole Turmel as Interim Leader. CHP Canada’s Leader, Jim Hnatiuk, our National Board, and our members immediately joined the rest of Canada in praying for Jack Layton and wishing him a speedy recovery. Alas, he passed away August 22.

Although the appointment of newly-elected Hull-Aylmer MP Nycole Turmel as Interim Leader of the Opposition was ratified by NDP caucus the next day, a closer look has revealed a “ghost in the closet” or as some would say, “what’s in your wallet?” Ms. Turmel did have membership cards in her wallet which are now on the table. She has always been well known as a union organizer. Less well known was her membership in the Bloc and Québec Solidaire. Her defence of those memberships did little to reassure Canadians that the NDP is being led by those with a vision for a stronger and better Canada.

The NDP was recently considering a name change… perhaps “New Bloc Quebecois” would do?

One thing the NDP has not changed is its commitment to socialism, big government, and the welfare state. They will continue to lobby for increased spending, and our new “Conservative” government will need to set strict budget goals—and defend them!—if Canada is to return to its deficit-slaying days. Since Stephen Harper came to power in 2006, however, the federal government has grown in size and cost by 42 percent; and the last two years have added over $100 billion to our national debt—which is still rising at the rate of $123 million per day!

We are not alone. Our neighbours to the South are wallowing in a debt exceeding $14 trillion! How do President Obama and his supporting cast propose to solve their debt crisis? By borrowing more money! Somehow, digging a deeper hole to get out of the hole you’re in doesn’t make sense. Although President Obama and other world leaders recognize the destructive nature of debt and deficit spending, they continue to commit economic suicide. Does Canada have the backbone, the courage, and the will to face our problems and make the tough choices to cut spending and return to “pay-as-you-go” economic policies? Only the CHP has a plan to pay off the national debt and reap the benefits of frugal spending and responsible stewardship of Canada’s economic resources.

Politicians in Canada, like politicians around the world, are constantly faced with ethical questions—often questions involving money. The theft or misuse of money, overspending and the allocation of scarce resources for personal gain or partisan advantage—these are not only economic questions, but deeply moral questions; and they call for moral answers. Only by a commitment to unchanging principles can political leaders hope to rein in wasteful spending and chart a course worthy of the trust of the people they purport to lead.

CHP Canada is the only federal party committed to upholding the Charter preamble, which states: “…Canada is founded on principles which recognise the supremacy of God and the rule of law.” CHP Canada uses an Integrity Analysis process to vet potential candidates and leadership personnel. Those aspiring to candidacy or other positions of leadership in the Party must complete a detailed questionnaire, submit to police and credit checks, and be interviewed by previously-approved leaders to ensure the highest standards of conduct by those representing our party and to reduce the risk of embarrassment or surprise when our members become more visible political targets. The process is not perfect, but with the foundation of moral government laid in the Charter and a transparent commitment by our members and leadership to walk in integrity, is not CHP Canada poised and equipped to set the standard for political activity, and lead by example?

By joining the CHP and showing the Prime Minister, the Opposition, and all voting Canadians that integrity is the central issue, you can help Canada lead the world in economics, morality and social strength.

Now that makes sense!

One unexpected result of the rioting in London and other British cities recently has been a remarkable degree of agreement by commentators on the root cause. They put aside economic disparity, racial marginalization, cultural integration and policing as possible reasons. No, the root cause, they say is a lack of morality caused by the breakdown of the traditional family.

Melanie Phillips, writing in the Daily Mail, said the riots are the direct result of “a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society.”

“. . . most of these children come from lone-mother households. And the single most crucial factor behind all this mayhem is the willed removal of the most important thing that socializes children and turns them from feral savages into civilized citizens: a father who is a fully committed member of the family unit.

“Of course there are many lone parents who do a tremendous job. But we’re talking here about widespread social collapse. And there are whole areas of Britain, white as well as black, where committed fathers are a wholly unknown phenomenon.”

The same cry from the heart comes from Max Hastings, also in the Daily Mail.

Anyone who reproaches a child, far less an adult, for discarding rubbish, making a racket, committing vandalism or driving unsociably will receive in return a torrent of obscenities, if not violence.

So who is to blame? The breakdown of families, the pernicious promotion of single motherhood as a desirable state, the decline of domestic life so that even shared meals are a rarity, have all contributed importantly to the condition of the young underclass.

And it comes too from American commentator, Ann Coulter:

England’s welfare state is fast returning the native population to its violent 18th-century highwaymen roots.

Needless to say, Britain leads Europe in the proportion of single mothers and, as a consequence, also leads or co-leads the European Union in violent crime, alcohol and drug abuse, obesity and sexually transmitted diseases.

What then has been the cause of this family breakdown? Commentators seem to agree on this as well. Here’s Mark Steyn, writing in his new book, After America:

“For Americans, the quickest way to understand modern Britain is to look at what LBJ’s Great Society did to the black family and imagine it applied to the general population.”

There are many more examples I could quote, but the message is the same: government policies that weakened, or destroyed, the traditional family unit are the key factor in producing Britain’s new class of amoral, self-centred, feral children.

Welfare that promoted dependency, promotion of single-parenthood, taxation that forced both parents to work, day care that allowed for absentee parenting and the general sexualization of society that devalued sex as a benefit of marriage; all these things and more have now accumulated. Taken together, this attack on the traditional, two-person, one-wage earner family has virtually destroyed a generation of British young people.

The Christian Heritage Party has, for a long time, been presenting better solutions on the issues of abortion and homosexuality; it has been advancing the wisdom of home schooling and traditional parenting; it has developed policies addressing the disciplining of children and stiffer sentences for criminals. The analyses we’ve read about the London riots confirm that CHP’s Better Solutions are not “fringe” ideas from one political Party. Canadian society has now seen the future if it doesn’t change course. Canadians have now seen where ‘Progressive’ family, education, and justice policies lead: to anarchy.

The Christian Heritage Party can now say, and point to proof, that failure to follow traditional moral childrearing can ruin this country even as it has Britain.

That’s the lesson of the British riots: that CHP policies are correct, worth following, worth supporting, and worth voting for.

“What is truth?”

This is a crucial question; one of vital importance to understanding all of life.

As I write this, the United States is in a severe economic crisis; the threat of bankruptcy is a real possibility. This will have worldwide consequences (which would include Canada, their nearest neighbour), unless they come up with a solution in the next few days. How did a nation so blessed by God deteriorate to such a desperate state?

What are the solutions to problems of such magnitude? Raising the debt ceiling? Balancing the budget? Cutting government bureaucracy and social programs? Raising the debt ceiling has to be the worst solution; it only compounds the problem in the future. Presenting balanced budgets is a good start. Cutting government spending on bureaucracy and social programs is essential. But in a society where the entitlement mentality is so prevalent, this could be one of the most difficult to implement – but herein lies a root of the problem. It is not money, nor technique, nor technology that are keys to a nation’s healing and prosperity. A nation cannot divorce the metaphysical (spiritual) from the material and expect to have the desired positive results. Or as CHP’s former leader, Ron Gray, would often say, “We cannot have the fruit without the root.”

What does truth have to do with economics? How is truth fundamental to finding solutions national or worldwide economic crises?

Western society was built on a Biblical foundation. This spiritual and moral bedrock is what gave it stability, liberty, and prosperity. In our post-modern age, the West has removed God from the public square and somehow still expects to have the blessings without the Giver of those blessings. In Canada, we too are fast losing the Judeo-Christian legacy of our Founding Fathers.

In Vishal Mangalwadi’s book, Truth and Transformation: A Manifesto for Ailing Nations, he looks at what made the West into the success that it has been and sees the devastating results of removing the Bible and Ten Commandments from the courts, education, and the halls of legislative power. When a nation ousts the Bible, it loses the Truth. Only when there is truth can there be trust. If there is no trust, arbitrary rules and regulations become the order of the day. No longer is a man as good as his word. But when trust is established in society, there is liberty and hope.

Mr. Mangalwadi also challenges the church declaring the need for reformation so that it can be used by God to transform the nations. Today Christians are being shaped by the secular culture around them, rather than being the culture-shapers we are called to be.

Truth and Transformation is a refreshing and invigorating read for all concerned, ecclesiastical or political. The author, Vishal Mangalwadi, who was born and educated in India, has succinctly diagnosed the downward trend of the West. He challenges the Christian churches and Western nations to again embrace Truth, as this is the path to restoration.

CHP Canada is the only Canadian political party that seeks to restore the vision of our Founding Fathers, recognizing the sovereignty of God. The liberties their vision gave us are quickly being eroded. CHP Canada has only a four-year window in which to build and grow before the next election. As Christians in the political realm, we must be culture-shapers for the continued blessing of the great nation. There is hope. Share the vision for a better Canada.

Author, Niall Ferguson, in his book Civilization quotes a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as explaining the reason China has lagged behind Europe in rising to a dominant position.

“At first,” he said, “we thought it was your guns. You had better weapons than we did. Then we delved deeper and thought it was your political system. Then we searched deeper still, and concluded that it was your economic system. But for the past 20 years we have realised that it was in fact your religion, Christianity. It was the Christian foundation of social and cultural life in Europe that made possible the emergence first of capitalism, then of democratic politics.”

What an eye opener for the western world today! Canada has joined most of the western world in throwing off the heritage that gave us our freedoms, our respect for one another, our political strength.

We have replaced our freedom-nourishing heritage with the shackles of limited freedoms.

We are free to say what we wish—as long as nobody is offended by what we say.

We are free to go where we wish without government interference—as long as we don’t violate bubble zones, where freedoms of assembly and speech are not allowed.

We are free to take the lives of fellow human beings—as long as their current address is in their mother’s womb.

We have replaced the freedom of democratic politics with the shackles of strategic voting and party politics.

Canada, like so many countries, has been impoverished by casting off our heritage, which had given us so much.

As we look out from the barred windows of what Kathy Shaidle called, “A Tyranny of Nice”, we can only hope that truth will replace “nice”; freedom will replace government restrictions; respect for life will replace the convenience of killing the inconvenient; voting for the government we want will replace voting against the government we don’t want.

Those, like the Chinese, who have lived under oppressive regimes, appreciate the value of our culture.

Canadians who have recognised the value of our heritage and seek to retain that, are joining the CHP as the only political party that is willing to take a stand to protect against the loss of the culture that has shored up our freedoms these past centuries.

CHP Canada will continue to fight to retain our Canadian culture. We need your voice united with other Canadians willing to make this stand. It’s time to step out geared for battle because if we won’t fight, we will lose everything worth defending.

Have you ever wondered where Canada started taking a “wrong turn”? One problem is the widespread misunderstanding in Canada over the phrase, “the separation of church and state.” This has often been a problem facing the Christian Heritage Party. In fact, many say they won’t join CHP Canada because they believe it’s wrong to mix religion and politics.

In the first place, the idea stems from a misunderstanding of the reason for the First Amendment of the American Constitution which states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion…”

The clause was actually meant to protect the original colonies from having the federal government intrude on their religious practices. Massachusetts Bay, New Haven, and New Hampshire were founded by Puritan, Calvinist, Protestants; New York, Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia were officially Church of England; while Maryland was Roman Catholic. Far from eliminating religion, the amendment was meant to protect different denominations of Christian worship from the creation of a state denomination.

The “separation of church and state” phrase itself is found nowhere in the Constitution or it’s amendments, but comes from a letter written in 1802 by Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury, Connecticut, Baptist Association.

In Canada, the situation was, until recently, much clearer. The sovereign was Head of State and of the Church of England. A lengthy Christian prayer was read every day in the House of Commons until 1994, asking God, through Christ, to protect her. Let me quote the first of three stanzas:

O Lord our heavenly Father, high and mighty, King of kings, Lord of lords, the only Ruler of princes, who dost from thy throne behold all the dwellers upon earth: Most heartily we beseech thee with thy favour to behold our most gracious Sovereign Lady, Queen Elizabeth; and so replenish her with the grace of thy Holy Spirit that she may always incline to thy will and walk in thy way; Endue her plenteously with heavenly gifts: grant her in health and wealth long to live; strengthen her that she may vanquish and overcome all her enemies; and finally, after this life, she may attain everlasting joy and felicity; through Jesus Christ our Lord — Amen.

Can anyone, reading that, believe Canada is a country founded on the idea of separating church and state? Obviously not. Canada was, until February 21, 1994, clearly and publicly a Christian nation.

The fact it is not considered so now is due to the misnamed Charter of Rights and Freedoms which elevated other religions to the same plane as Christianity and then banished all religion from the public square. That was the reason the prayer I’ve just quoted was replaced by a new one that, while it still mentions “Almighty God,” no longer says who he is.

The Christian Heritage Party objects to the way the Charter has evicted Christianity from the House of Commons, from our school system, and from Canadian law. It believes—as our name says—Canada’s strength and freedom is based on the moral teachings of our Judeo-Christian heritage and that our future success will only be gained by returning to them.

Supporting the Christian Heritage Party of Canada means you’re supporting what is truly Canadian.

And may God bless you for it.

I am going to bring you some hope for the future of you, your family, the Christian community, and all the members of the Christian Heritage Party. It comes from an unexpected source—our opponents—and it’s not something they, or you, may even realize.

To explain it, I have to go back to when the Christian Heritage Party was formed in opposition to the elimination of abortion laws and the legitimizing of same-sex marriage. Both developments seemed immoral to our founders and they fought hard to reinstate one and resist the other. They failed, despite a valiant effort over succeeding decades.

I have talked with members and potential members who feel the CHP is tilting at windmills—that it will fade from view as the founders pass on. But while we’ve all had these discussions in the party, something momentous has been happening outside in the real world.

First, as a direct result of the women’s liberation movement, freely available abortion services, and the promotion of homosexuality, Canada’s fertility rate has declined until it’s now 1.6 children per female. This is well below the replacement rate of 2.1 children needed to maintain our population.

As a result, succeeding Canadian governments have opened the immigration doors to the extent that Canada took in more than 500,000 permanent and temporary residents in 2009. Because most European fertility rates are even lower than Canada’s, these new immigrants have come predominantly from countries with high fertility rates. Somalia, for example, has a fertility rate of more than six children per female.

These immigrants have, naturally, brought their customs, cultures, and religions with them. These have included, for some, a desire to wear veils, separate the sexes, abort females, perform genital mutilation, arrange marriages, marry cousins, and accept “honour killings.“ As the number of immigrants from these areas has increased, instances of these social practices in Canada have also increased.

The result is that a slow reaction has begun among ordinary Canadians who never expected their lack of children would create negative consequences for their quality of life.

Websites have popped up deploring taxi drivers who won’t accept guide dogs, and parents who won’t let their children participate in sports or music class. The comments on these sites have criticized Sharia law and have expressed concern that Islamic funding and activism is affecting our universities and threatening Jewish students. You can feel the angst, often badly expressed, that the newcomers are not accepting Canadian social norms.

This feeling is starting to lead ordinary citizens to ask themselves “What are Canadian norms?” “Where did they come from?” “What are they based upon?”

Eventually, enquiring minds will find that Canadian values, and indeed, our basic freedoms, come from English Common Law which itself was based on the Christian Bible. Indeed, they will come to realize that it’s our Christian Heritage that has made Canada great. And, wonder of wonders, there’s an actual political party they can join that is dedicated to preserving these values!

It’s a long and winding road, but it leads to the CHP; that’s my message of hope from an unexpected source.

This past week a Facebook friend of mine passed along a link to an interesting article in the Toronto Star. The piece was written by Gerry Nicholls (former vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition) under the heading, “Stephen Harper: Not the conservative he once was.”

Mr. Nicholls outlines how Stephen Harper “has transformed himself from a conservative ideologue into a pragmatic, partisan politician, with pragmatic, partisan objectives,” and whose objective “isn’t to make government smaller, it’s to establish the Conservative party as the new ‘Natural Governing Party of Canada.’” As my astute Facebook friend stated, “Even the left wingers in Canada recognize that Harper is hardly a conservative.”

Now, for the real conservatives in Canada this certainly isn’t a startling revelation, but reading the column in the Star did cause me to think back to another article I had read, one that made extensive reference to Italian philosopher Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli believed that politics was a sphere of pure power, and politicians could use any means available to achieve that power. It is obvious that Canada’s mainstream politicians and political parties are still influenced a great deal by Machiavelli; thus we witness the ever so pragmatic Mr. Harper abandoning his conservative ambitions in exchange for a stranglehold on power. This should come as no surprise as this is what happens to principled men and women when they operate in a political party guided by signposts that are constantly moving.

What is disturbing is the number of Christians who adopt this Machiavellian outlook on politics.

We know we are to be a positive example in this world, and yet, in the political sphere, we try to demonstrate this only when it seems most expedient to us. Described in this way—it’s utter nonsense!
The man who wrote about Niccolo Machiavelli has gone to be with the Lord, but his family has carried on his legacy by publishing his writings on the internet. I end with a lengthy quote from the above-mentioned article.

Power tends to corrupt. John Calvin feared the abuse of power. That’s why he opposed social as well as political concentration in the hands of a few. The Christian faith is antithetical to the grasping of earthly power. Christians are followers of Christ the King, who became a servant, even washing the feet of His disciples (John 13:14, 15). The values of the Kingdom of God are upside down values; low is high, weak is strong.

Christian politics can never be Machiavellian. It is the politics of powerlessness, reflected in a profound example in the person and ministry of Jesus, who could say, “All power is given unto Me.” He never manipulated nor coerced. He became the least for the sake of His people. He reluctantly accepted the role of suffering servant. He was tempted by Satan to grasp earthly power, but rejected it.

Christian politics is not the politics of power, but of sacrifice, discipleship and service.

The Christian Heritage Party has enshrined in our Constitution the assurance that our 5 Principles cannot be changed. This is your protection that the values we declare today will be the same as the values we declare tomorrow. Politics is not a Machiavellian game of power; it is a ministry of service to the Lord and our fellow citizens.

By the time you read this, both Canada and the United States will have just celebrated their national holidays. It is usually a time for flag-waving, military parades, family picnics, and speeches by dignitaries. This year’s Canada Day celebrations were highlighted by the appearance of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, who were on hand to help Canadians celebrate. Exactly what we as a nation were celebrating is a good question to ask.

There is no doubt that we have received many blessings as a country in terms of our material riches and a relatively stable and peaceful society in which to live. One of the things we often hear mentioned is the freedom we have in Canada. By that, we usually mean the freedom to live a life as we see fit – to do what we want, to work, to play, to raise a family, and so on.

As Christians, we know that freedom does have limits. We are free only to the extent that we live within the bounds established by our God and Father. True freedom does not consist of license to do whatever man’s heart desires; that leads ultimately only to slavery of the self. One of the freedoms we possess is the freedom to have and maintain a Christian political party such as the Christian Heritage Party. We have the freedom to participate in the public square by offering our Better Solutions for the problems which beset us as a nation.

It’s not a freedom that we should take for granted, as we can see in the various cases that come before the Human Rights Commissions (HRCs) of this country.

The freedom to speak out on moral issues, for example, is being trammelled, as we’ve seen with people such as Linda Gibbons, Bill Whatcott, and many others. We ought to support such individuals in their right to speak out on moral issues in our democratic society. Better yet, we should encourage them, and like-minded individuals, to unite with us in defending freedom of speech. (In unity there is strength.) CHP is the only political party to boldly defend our freedoms against the HRCs.

As we reflect on the privileges of being Canadian citizens this July, let’s remind ourselves and our fellow Canadians of the necessity to maintain and preserve the hard-won freedom to engage in political activity. It’s a precious part of the heritage we’ve received from previous generations. Let’s not squander that freedom – for the sake of our children and grandchildren.

Perhaps the most famous statement in Canadian history, in hindsight, turned out to be the biggest deception spoken in the House of Commons. This 1967 statement, “The state has no business in the bedrooms of the nation,” paved the way for then Justice Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau’s Omnibus Bill about a year later. The Omnibus Bill impacted Canadian Law in an unimaginable way, changing the entire fabric of Canadian culture.

As change was carried along by the charisma of this man, the dangerous waters he brought us into were overlooked.

A short 20 years later, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada’s abortion law as unconstitutional and sent it back to Parliament. “Cowardice in the House of Commons,” as Senator Ann Cools has called it, kept our MP’s cowering under the public glare of a “woman’s right to choose,” creating the horrific reality that the most dangerous place in our nation is now the mother’s womb.

Last week’s National Post article summarizes in part how that history unfolded:

The 1988 Morgentaler decision was the first big Charter case…. a five-judge majority of the Supreme Court, four men and one woman, decided that provisions of the Criminal Code regulating abortion, passed by Parliament almost 20 years earlier, were unconstitutional and of no effect. They expected that Parliament would fill the void they had created with new legislation, but Parliament failed to oblige. The result is that Canada has been left as the only Western country with no abortion laws of any sort. Both therapeutic and elective abortions are widely available, in the big cities at least. Many are paid for by provincial health plans.

Instead of returning to the status quo of 20 years prior, the Supreme Court ruling incredibly erased all protection for the unborn with the expectation that parliament would get on with doing its job. This never happened, and the unborn have been waiting vainly for over 23 years for protection. Over 100,000 babies continue to be killed every year in Canada, and, as I wrote only two weeks ago in my communiqué ‘Bloody Majority,’ this insanity must end!

Where is the outcry from Canadian churches? Their silence on the slaughter of the unborn is deafening. Can it be that they too are deaf to the silent cries of over 3.5 million Canadian babies?

As each new prime minister takes the helm of this great nation we expect him or her to have the courage and conviction to bring Canada back on course. Every captain requires a skilled navigator and unlike North Korea and China, the only other countries like Canada with no protection for the unborn at any stage of their development, we have the privilege of being provided with the best foundation this world can offer. Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms identifies this truth in its opening statement, “Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”

Today, the Christian Heritage Party of Canada is the only federal political vehicle left available to prolife Canadians. Those who commit to supporting and joining our team can be guaranteed our party will continue to operate to the best of our ability for the protection of all Canadians under the direction of our Supreme Navigator—so help us God.

A captain’s order to keep the ship heading in the same direction, “steady as she goes,” would occasionally be used when a helmsman required reassurance from Command to stay on course regardless of the conditions or adversity towards which they were heading. Strong, confident leadership is especially needed during perilous times.

Under similar circumstances, inexperience, self-interest and/or cowardice will always find it easier and tempting to alter the course to avoid bad weather and/or run in the face of the enemy. This action will certainly put the ship off course and most likely bring peril of some degree to the ship’s company in the not too distant future.

Now, to put things into perspective, most social and fiscal conservatives can see that Canada is no longer on course. So how did that happen? I believe that inexperience and cowardice are not the problem, so that leaves only one thing, and that is ‘self-interest.’ In other words, those in charge of the ship don’t really care about its direction because they know very well that they will be disembarking with ‘gold-plated pensions’ long before the ship arrives at the unknown destination toward which they have carelessly aimed her.

Ever since our founding, nearly 25 years ago, the Christian Heritage Party has remained on course. We have remained true to our aims and objectives of ensuring Canada’s heritage, culture, and rule of law, as referenced in the preamble to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. No other party in Canada has lived up to this standard.

In the 80’s, the Reform party overshadowed the CHP as the right of centre alternative in Canada. That party went off course.

In the 90’s, the Alliance party overshadowed the CHP as the right of centre alternative in Canada. That party went off course.

At the turn of the century, the Conservative Party of Canada overshadowed the CHP as it became the hope of many as the right of centre alternative in Canada. However, recently, with their majority government, they have proven to be a counterfeit. They went off course.

CHP Canada has remained true to its course in spite of pressures from ‘winds of change’ and the confrontational issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, human rights commissions, Sharia Law, and more. All other parties have allowed these issues to alter their course (to buy time) and did so by going along with the crowd and/or running from the enemy.

Today, for the first time in the history of the Christian Heritage Party of Canada, we have no other federal political party along-side heading even remotely in the direction social and fiscal conservatives prefer. They have all altered course for the sake of self-interest, leaving conservatives with the choice of once again jumping ship or finding themselves tired and fed up, and so compromising their moral responsibilities and just going along for the ride to wherever. I encourage them today to not give up hope, but to get on board with CHP Canada as they will find us unwavering in rough waters.

In the next four years, CHP Canada will be taking every opportunity to capitalize on this unique time in the history of our party. We will use all the tools and resources available to us to show Canadians that we faithfully remain their only truly conservative party; that with their support, we will continue to meet adversity head on; and that, as members, they can have the assurance that our course will never be altered.

“Steady As She Goes!”

“The doctor brought the ultrasound in and hooked it up so that he could see the baby. On the ultrasound screen, I could see the heartbeat… The doctor went in with forceps and grabbed the baby’s legs and pulled them down into the birth canal. Then he delivered the baby’s body and the arms — everything but the head. The doctor kept the head right inside the uterus.

The baby’s little fingers were clasping and unclasping, and his little feet were kicking. Then the doctor stuck the scissors in the back of his head, and the baby’s arms jerked out, like a startle reaction, like a flinch, like a baby does when he thinks he is going to fall.

The doctor opened up the scissors, stuck a high-powered suction tube into the opening, and sucked the baby’s brains out. Now the baby went completely limp. I was really completely unprepared for what I was seeing. I almost threw up as I watched the doctor doing these things.

Next, the doctor delivered the baby’s head. He cut the umbilical cord and delivered the placenta. He threw the baby in a pan, along with the placenta and the instruments he had just used. I saw the baby move in the pan. I asked another nurse, and she said it was just reflexes.

I have been a nurse for a long time, and I have seen a lot of death — people maimed in auto accidents, gunshot wounds, you name it. I have seen surgical procedures of every sort. But in all my professional years, I had never witnessed anything like this.

The woman wanted to see her baby, so they cleaned up the baby and put it in a blanket and handed it to her. She cried the whole time. She kept saying, “I am so sorry, please forgive me.” I was crying, too. I couldn’t take it. That baby boy had the most perfect, angelic face I think I have ever seen in my life…

I just couldn’t wait to get out of there. After I left that day, I never went back. I was very much affected by what I saw. For a long time –and sometimes still — I had nightmares about what I saw that day.

I wish I hadn’t seen what I saw. But I did see it, and I will never be able to forget it. That baby boy was only inches, seconds, away from being entirely born, when he was killed. What I saw done to that little boy, and to those other babies [that day], should not be allowed in this country.”

Partial birth (late term) abortion like the one witnessed above shouldn’t be allowed in any country! Yet incredibly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has promised Canadians that his new Conservative majority government will ensure that this horrific procedure can continue unabated in Canada. You see, there is no law in Canada—none—to protect the unborn child at any stage of pregnancy—and the Conservative party has admittedly joined with all the other parties in parliament to ensure it remains that way. Additionally, because there are known prolife MPs in his caucus, Stephen Harper has seen to it that those MPs be instructed not to try to introduce a private member’s bill to challenge the status quo.

The responsibility for this does not all rest with the politicians; prolife voters (most unknowingly) contribute to this holocaust by ‘mothballing’ good prolife MPs into the ‘domes of silence’ that all existing political parties have in the House of Commons. MPs are told what to say and when to say it.What the auditor general will not uncover is what Harper and the other parties are really hiding to gain political power and, ultimately, this Conservative bloody majority. Incredibly, it’s the innocent babies, paying with their lives in a holocaust of pain. Wake up Canada!

There is only one federal political party that will continually and boldly tell Canadians this truth: the Christian Heritage Party. Just imagine how a CHP caucus in parliament could restore sanity to this nation and put an end to the pain being rendered to these babies. CHP MPs will not be told what to say…they know what to say and they’ll have the freedom to say it!

CHP Canada needs your support today and you have my promise that, with the resources in place, we’ll fight this barbaric practice to its end! I encourage you now to please forward this to everyone in your address book—an innocent life depends on it.

The above testimony was given by Brenda Pratt Shafer. Brenda had eleven years of experience as a registered nurse and one horrific day assisting with partial birth abortions. Written as told before the Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, March 21, 1996.