Calgary City Council Set To Deal Blow To Pro-Life Activism

Mayor Jyoti Gondek and the rest of Calgary’s City Council are expected to unanimously support a bylaw that would require any pamphlet that contains graphic images to be sealed in an opaque envelope and that it be labeled with both a warning and the sender's address.

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Divergent voices, even those we may not like, are fundamental to a healthy society and to the preservation of civilization. Our culture is like a swinging pendulum and when that pendulum begins to swing a little too far, either way, society tends to self-correct.

Progressive politicians like Justin Trudeau, Rachel Notley and Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek are going to extreme measures to keep the current radical swing to the left from experiencing a natural and overdue correction. There is a concerted effort throughout many levels of government to stifle dissident opinions, and these progressive politicians have been unabashedly legislating, often arguably in conflict with Charter-enshrined rights, draconic and overreaching laws to suit their ideological ends.

Whether it be the troubling Bill C-11 which directly seeks to control what shows up on your social media feeds, attempts to limit protests against drag story times with bylaw-enforced bubble zones that have already seen a pastor thrown behind bars, or the failed attempts to ban Covid-19 restriction protests over the last few years, this country and particularly the city of Calgary have been trending troublingly towards totalitarianism.

Apparently chanting death to Israel or having a man dressing up as a woman and reading inappropriate literature are sacred cases of freedom of expression, but trying to be heard when crying out for fundamental freedoms or engaging in activism on controversial issues like abortion, well those efforts are fair game for censorship, and censoring abortion activism has become a favourite pastime of progressives in Alberta.

Back in 2018 Bill 9, the Protecting Choice for Women Accessing Health Care Act, was brought forward by the Alberta NDP. It established a bubble zone around abortion clinics that proponents argued was meant to serve as a safety measure for women.

Critics of the bill, including then independent MLA Derek Fildebrandt, who was the sole MLA to vote against the bill after UCP members walked out during the vote, condemned it as an attack on free speech. Others denounced the bill for limiting groups from providing resources and access to information to women that would be critical to their capacity to make informed decisions by excluding pro-life groups or ministries from offering support and alternatives outside of clinics.

Now Calgary City Council is seeking to take the limitations on pro-life activism a step further by placing strict regulations on pro-life literature containing graphic images. To learn more about the bylaw and to discuss the admittedly contentious use of graphic victim photography in pro-life activism, I was joined by the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform's Western Outreach Director Cameron Côté.

We’ve spoken with Cameron before  we discussed his organization's activism and he let us know about the truck they drive around the city exposing abortion to thousands in graphic visual detail. You can watch that video here.

With the CCBRs anti-abortion literature drops being the principal target of this new bylaw, I invited Cameron to join me once again to discuss why they believe graphic images are the most effective mechanism for social change, why abortion is still such a hotly contested issue despite many insisting the debate is closed, and to breakdown the new bylaw and how it will impede their efforts to end abortion in Canada.

While Calgary's mayor, Jyoti Gondek, is trying to criminalize peaceful public protests against drag queen story events, Rebel News is standing up for fundamental freedoms and the right to protest, but we need your help if we are going to succeed.

If you were fined for peacefully protesting Drag Story Time or other all-ages Drag events, you may be eligible for a free legal defence. Learn more and support these legal efforts at FightCensorshipFines.com.

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