The Refusal of Conscience in Justin Trudeau’s Government

As expected, I received a rejection letter from Service Canada for an application for Canada Summer Jobs. This is the first time funding for our organization has been rejected. We have received funding since 2009.

The reason for this rejection is that as a Christian church, we reject human abortion and the marriage rights of those who of the same sex.

The 2018 application required a signed attestation that reads:

“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.”

Below is a screenshot of the repairs I made to the application I submitted. I marked over the words in bold above:

Yesterday I received an email from Service Canada:

Your application must be resubmitted because the attestation cannot be altered or modified. The “I attest” box must be checked and the application signed.  You can resubmit the last page only, which contains the requested jobs, the attestation and the signature.”

So, this year we will not receive a Canada Summer Jobs grant because of a conscientious objection to sodomy and the murder of infants. Bad idea for the Government of Canada: Ontario has just raised the minimum wage 22% on January first, and now has lost 59,000 jobs since then, mostly part-time.

This is unconstitutional and against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Follow this blog until it’s deemed illegal.

Three Reasons Why Signing the Attestation as Written, is Wrong.

Important background information here.

We are now assured by the Prime Minister’s own words and his employment minister that what the attestation means is not as it appears (offending sentences in bold italics):

“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.”

There are at least three red flags here:

First: Anyone who has ever signed a contract knows that what is written has priority what is said verbally. If I have misread this statement to mean, “our church must believe, as part of our core mandate, that abortion is acceptable” (as well as the other abominations–you sort that out), so have all the other religious charities in Canada who hold to traditional understandings of human life and marriage.

But our leaders are telling us it is only the charity’s activities that matter. But this isn’t what is stated in the attestation. To sign it is to sign an abomination The core mandate of any Christian church is to be pro-life, whether or not they are actively engaged in outwardly visible activities. Being Biblically faithful is the air that Christians breathe, and there is no way the activities of the church can be separated from its beliefs.

So just as I wouldn’t sign any contract that differed so materially from what the other party says it means, no one should trust this government to keep their word. In another year when there is another issue, do we want this signed attestation brought out to show our approval in 2018 of these things? Once faith is sold, it is very hard to redeem it.

Second: The government’s attack on legal, registered charities must not go unanswered. These are not terrorist groups and are not operating illegally, nor are they advocating for law-breaking. To the contrary, they are advocating for changing the law to protect the unborn.

Besides being a dangerous move to trust the government on this issue, to accept the grant while it is denied to others on this basis is a breach of faith with those who are on the frontlines of pro-life activities. If we are pro-life, we must stand with those who are more active than we are.

Third: This government, as is the habit of governments, is expanding its perceived ownership of life-and-death issues. This is just not a pro-life problem but shows the government’s desire to politicize everything in life, and reduce the sphere of faith to one’s own person and in one’s church. I once heard an officer of the charities branch of the Canadian Revenue Agency speaking to a crowd of charity officers actually use pro-life activism as something the agency does not disapprove of. 

It is likely that the Prime Minister would like to secularize all of society (as much of it was, while Christians slept), and to do so he would have to eliminate charitable status for all but atheist organizations. I do believe this is his end-game, and he has a lot of cheerleaders.

The Prime Minister’s approach reflects the idea that a tax break is a grant. This can only be true when the state is all, and all is the state’s.

“Are You in Danger?”

One of the requirements employers must fulfill when hiring Canada Summer Jobs students is to make certain each student reads a pamphlet, “Are You in Danger?” which is a short instruction manual on employee safety. Each employee is made aware in this pamphlet of their need to be aware of dangers on the job.

It seems that besides exposure to paint fumes or toxic workplace cleaners, the Trudeau government is worried that the youngsters (ages 15-30) will be exposed to bad ideas. In the Prime Minister’s own words:

Additionally, these changes help prevent youth (as young as 15 years of age) from being exposed to employment within organizations that may promote positions that are contrary to the values enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and associated case law. This change helps to ensure that youth job opportunities funded by the Government of Canada take place in an environment that respects the rights of all Canadians.”

So now, the beliefs of the Christian church, all 2000 years of it, is a toxin, which must be kept from unsuspecting youth. Youth must never know the truth about abortion.

More here.