Although pro-life Canadians won’t be able to gather by the thousands in their provincial capitals May 13 to show their support for laws limiting abortion, they are hoping their message will still spread widely.
B.C.’s annual March for Life in Victoria, typically attracts about 2,000 people to a march and rally down Government Street to the steps of the legislature buildings, but government limitations on gatherings and ferry travel won’t allow that to happen this year.
Instead, “we’ll do what we would normally do in Victoria, just online,” said Michele Smillie, organizer and ministries and outreach coordinator for the Archdiocese of Vancouver.
This year’s March for Life next Thursday will include Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, who will celebrate Mass and pray for families in crisis, though inside a mostly-empty Holy Rosary Cathedral instead of a jam-packed Victoria church.
That Mass will be streamed live at 12:10 p.m. Then, starting at 1:30, a virtual March for Life will begin featuring well-known personalities including author and pro-life apologist Stephanie Gray-Connors, Delta Hospice Society president Angelina Ireland, anti-euthanasia activist Alex Schadenberg, and long-time pro-lifer Mary Wagner.
Musicians from two local Catholic schools will also make an appearance, as will the Sisters of Life and emcee Father Mark McGuckin.
One benefit of the virtual rally is the ability to host speakers from across the country without worry about travel restrictions or schedules, said Smillie.
She invites all who participate online to not shy away from creating signs and posters, as they would for the march, and place them outside their homes instead.
“We are hoping people put signs in their widows and on their lawns,” she said. “The people who see it will be those who live around them.”
As far as she knows, there are no planned gatherings outside the legislature buildings in Victoria that day.
The same can’t be said for pro-lifers in Ottawa, who are planning a small in-person rally on Parliament Hill even though the province of Ontario and much of the rest of the country continue to enact strict rules against social gatherings.
After cancelling the in-person March for Life in Ottawa last year, organizers of this year’s event don’t know how many people will actually show up in-person considering the ongoing pandemic restrictions, but speakers have been lined up to address the marchers who do attend.
“We haven’t lined up any buses to bring people in like we have in past years and the schools are closed so we won’t have school trips tied into the event like we have most other years, but we will have speakers on the Hill and we will make sure that our pro-life message is delivered loud and clear,” Campaign Life Coalition’s Debbie Duval said.
“We are definitely going to be there on the 13th in person to exercise our rights,” she said a week before the May 13 rally. “We will have speakers on the Hill like during past years. How many will come out to the march, we don’t know but we will be there,” Duval said.
She added that some speakers originally hoped for the Parliament Hill rally can’t attend because of the ongoing closure of the Canada-United States border.
For those who can’t attend the in-person rally, the event will once again this year be available to watch online. As well, there will be a week-long online pro-life film festival and other online events geared towards youth.
“Due to popular demand, we are bringing back our pro-life film festival with several movies lined up for the week. This year’s theme, You Are Not Alone, speaks directly to those who are in a position of vulnerability and crisis, by assuring them that we are here to help,” said a statement from Campaign Life Coalition in advance of the May 13 rally.
“To the pregnant mother, fearing an unknown future, you are not alone. To the beloved senior, who is feeling afraid and isolated, you are not alone, and to the child in the womb, who is dehumanized by our society today, you are not alone.”
Duval said regardless of whether pro-life Canadians attend the May 13 rally in person or not, it is important that pro-life Canadians speak out in any manner that they feel comfortable.
“It is important everyone stand together, whether that is in person or not,” Duval said.
Visit marchforlife.ca and m4lvictoria.ca for details of the National March for Life in Ottawa and the March for Life in Victoria.
With files from Canadian Catholic News.
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