Annual march puts spotlight on Canada’s 150th birthday
As Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, tens of thousands of Canadians will be drawing attention to one of their most deeply held values: respect for life.
In past years as many as 25,000 pro-life witnesses have participated in the Ottawa March for Life on Parliament Hill, and organizers hope at least that many will participate this 20th year of the event. Reflecting the milestone Canada is marking this year, the theme is Life: We Stand on Guard for Thee.
Abortion “saps the very life blood of the nation,” John A. Macdonald, Canada’s first prime minister, once said. It’s a message March for Life organizers hope to continue to spread.
In many provincial capitals, including Victoria, Edmonton, Fredericton, Halifax, St. John’s, and Winnipeg, regional March for Life events will take place, making March for Life a national rally.
In Victoria May 11, several thousand people are expected to walk down Government Street and gather to hear speeches on the lawn in front of the legislature buildings for the 10th year.
Anastasia Pearse, a March for Life Victoria committee member, said the provincial event is celebrating the Canadian anniversary with the theme: Canada is 150 Years Old and Human Rights Still Matter.
Celebrating the country’s birth is important, said Pearse, and “we want to make sure that all Canadians are given the same opportunities to celebrate.”
Speakers at the Victoria event will include Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller as well as pro-life advocates, including Irene de Souza, a self-proclaimed pro-life missionary with the Canadian Centre for Bioethical Reform. Other speakers will include ethics and philosophy of religion professor Paul Chamberlain and Stan Leyenhorst, a Cloverdale resident who has lived with a spinal injury for nearly 40 years.
“We want to show our country that we are a great country but we have to make sure that the human rights of everyone are being taken into consideration,” Pearse said.
Attendees will also be urged to their MPs and MLAs to tell them that “the rights of the pre-born still matter” to many Canadians.
Before the march, Mass will be celebrated at St. Andrew’s Cathedral and St. Patrick’s Church in Victoria at noon, while a prayer service will be held at Central Baptist Church at 11:30 a.m.
The day’s events will close with a dinner fundraiser hosted by National Campus Life Network at St. Leopold’s Church in Victoria at 5:30 p.m.
View last year’s photos from the March for Life in Victoria here.
