January 16 - 31, 2018
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
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Breaking
Point
By Rosette Correa
Last
December,
the
Employment and Social
Development Canada posted
information on its website,
saying that hiring people
and funding organizations
for summer jobs funded by
the federal government must
now include that “both the job
and the organization’s core
mandate respect individual
human rights in Canada,
including the values underlying
the Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms as
well as other rights. These
include reproductive rights
and the right to be free from
discrimination on the basis of
sex, religion, race, national or
ethnic origin, colour, mental
or physical disability, sexual
orientation or gender identity
or expression.” In short,
even faith-based institutions
will now have to “agree” to
abortion and other matters in
order to get funding from the
government
Prime Minister Justin
Trudeau says religious groups
shouldn’t be discouraged
from applying to the Canada
Summer Jobs program,
despite the new clause but
he went on saying that “an
organization that has the
explicit purpose of restricting
women’s rights by removing
rights to abortion and the
Believers Need
Not Apply
right for women
to control their
own bodies is not in line with
where we are as a government,
and quite frankly where we
are as a society.”
First of all, this is not a
question of any organization
suppressing the rights of
women to decide what they
want to do with their lives
and the helpless children
inside their bodies. That is
their decision and that is
between them and God. This
is about favouring one group
of people and discriminating
against
another,
simply
because he does not agree
with the latter’s stand on the
issue of life. When a prime
minister takes sides, he no
longer commits to what he
claims as “defending rights
and freedoms as the core of
who I am and, quite frankly,
is at the core of who Canada
is.” I am Canadian, and I do
not share the core values
the prime minister is talking
about. That does not make
me less Canadian than he is.
Secondly, people of faith
are continuously being pushed
aside for their beliefs, which is
contrary to what the Charter
of Rights and Freedoms says.
It clearly states that Canadians
have “freedom of conscience
and religion; freedom of
thought, belief, opinion and
Canadian Conference of
Catholic Bishops (CCCB),
“the obvious and regrettable
infringement of freedom of
conscience and religion in
such matters as are raised by
the new policy” will lead to
the closing of summer camps
and services of numerous
non-profit
organizations
will be reduced; as well as
valuable opportunities for
apprenticeship will be lost. It
also said that it will “restrict the
voices of faith communities in
Canadian democracy and to
limit their participation in the
public square.” Institutions
like churches and other
faithful organizations are part
of society as a tool for checks
and balances. If a government
ignores these institutions,
they are removing one of
the check and balances
necessary to govern well. It
is also ignoring the life and
culture of its citizens.
I discussed this issue with
some young people, and they
saw the ugliness of it from the
get go. Even the youth see how
devastating this is to people
not only of a certain faith, but
of certain convictions that
they find important in their
lives. To rob a person of his
basic and fundamental belief,
as well as opportunities to be a
valued citizen and contributor
to the Canadian workforce,
is criminal. Trudeau and the
Employment Ministry are
doing just that.
Working with international partners
to make life better for people in B.C.
OP- ED
By B.C. Premier John Horgan
VICTORIA. Building
a
strong, sustainable economy
means working with trade
partners around the world to
expand markets and create
good jobs for people in B.C.
We’re making sure B.C. is
connected and competitive,
and we’re working hard to
attract more investment to
our province.
That’s
why
our
government is going on a
10-day mission to China,
South Korea and Japan to
establish new government-
to government relationships
and let people know that
B.C. is open to international
expression” among other
things. The prime minister
is contradicting the same
Charter he is upholding by
imposing this policy. Of
course, in today’s politically
correct world, it is okay to
discriminate and trample
upon the rights of Christians,
Muslims, Jews, Sikhs and
other people of faith, as long
as we uphold the rights of
pro-choice people, the LGBT
community, and other loud
and forward groups, despite
their small numbers.
Third, this is a clear
indication of totalitarianism,
and that policies like this is
like the imposition of Martial
Law – if you don’t like it, you
really can’t do anything about
it. We Filipinos know a thing
or two about Martial Law, so
even if Trudeau sugarcoats
this, a fish will still smell like
a fish.
Patty Hadju, Canada’s
employment minister says
c hurches and other religious
groups are eligible for a
federal grant to hire summer
students as long as their core
mandate agrees with access
to abortion, however, it
remains unclear what exactly
counts as a core mandate.
How can one who is not even
a practicing faithful, impose
something that
According
to
the
business.
B.C.’s
trade
and
investment relationships in
Asia are vital to our economic
prosperity.
These
three
countries are among our
province’s largest trading
partners. To open up new
opportunities
for
B.C.
businesses in forestry, clean
tech, energy, technology,
education and tourism, we
need to cultivate strong
relationships in Asia. That’s
exactly what we’re doing.
Instead of looking to
one sector to create jobs,
we’re working to strengthen
traditional industries while
supporting small business,
tourism,
agriculture,
manufacturing, technology
and innovation.
2018 is the Canada-
China Year of Tourism. China
is one of our province’s most
important growing markets
for tourism. B.C. is a world
class destination, and we’re
committed to promoting
our province around grow
our tourism industry around
the province. And as winter
sports grow in popularity in
China, we’re putting B.C.
on the map as a prime ski
destination.
Demand
for
environmentally sustainable
construction is growing in
China, and we’re taking every
opportunity to promote the
environmental benefits of B.C.
wood building products and
wood frame construction.
We’re also tackling the
challenges of climate change
and working with international
leaders to cut carbon pollution,
make buildings more energy
efficient, advance renewable
energy technology to help
spur innovation in the growing
low-carbon economy.
Our province is open,
inclusive and competitive, and
we welcome the movement of
people and the advancement
of economic and cultural
connections. We’re going to
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
make sure that message is
heard loud and clear in Asia,
and around the world.
This is just part of
the important work our
government is doing to make
life better for people in B.C.
I’m proud to do it on your
behalf.
Together, we can create
good-paying jobs in every
corner of the province, and
make sure everyone benefits
from
B.C.’s
economy,
resources and environment.
Because our economy should
work for everyone, not just the
few at the top.