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Bill S-211 is a private member’s bill in the Senate that would require large corporations to report on what they are doing to make sure their supply chains are free of slavery, forced labour or child labour. The EFC supports this effort to reduce forced and child labour and to raise awareness about human trafficking. This bill, originally introduced in the previous parliament, has been re-introduced in the current parliament. EFC letter of support to Senator sponsoring Bill S

The EFC was an intervener in a Supreme Court of Canada case about whether ecclesiastical decisions about membership and discipline are outside of the scope of judicial review. Hearings started Dec. 9, 2020 and a ruling was announced May 21, 2021. The EFC co-intervened with the Catholic Civil Rights League. The EFC welcomed the ruling in a statement. The May 2021 decision overruled an Ontario Court of Appeal decision released in January 2020 which would have permitted courts t

Bill C-219 is a private member’s bill that would increase the penalty for sexual exploitation of a young person in a relationship of dependency or a person with a disability. It would also amend the Criminal Code to consider it an aggravating circumstance at sentencing if a victim of sexual exploitation had a mental or physical disability. Bill C-219 was introduced by MP John Nater on February 25, 2020. It was reintroduced in 2021 and made it to second reading in April. It wa

UPDATE: Bill C-233 was defeated by a vote of 248-82 on June 2, 2021 Bill C-233 is a private member’s bill that would ban sex-selective abortion. It was introduced by MP Cathay Wagantall on February 26, 2020, and reintroduced Sept. 23, 2020. The bill would make changes to the Criminal Code to prohibit medical practitioners from performing an abortion knowing that the abortion is solely due to the child’s genetic sex. Sample letter for sending to your MP: pdf or docx EFC letter

A Calgary City Council committee held hearings on a proposed bylaw to ban conversion therapy in May 2020. The EFC’s written submission to the committee noted that “coercive and involuntary efforts to change sexual orientation have no place in our communities” but expressed concern that the bylaw’s definition of conversion therapy is so broadly worded that it infringes on freedom of expression. The EFC urged the committee to amend the definition of conversion therapy and to cl

In this submission to the parliamentary Finance Committee studying the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the EFC recommends (download PDF): additional flexibility in the Canada Emergency Wage subsidy, to allow charitable organizations to use a six or twelve-month period to calculate the decrease in their revenue exploring matching funds for charitable donations to a particular amount or for a certain period of time, excluding donations for capital projects. inc

In this five-page submission (download PDF) to the House of Commons standing committee on health, the EFC recommends: a continued focus on compassionate, life-affirming care that maintains the distinction between palliative care and euthanasia/medical assistance in dying. support for palliative care providers and hospices, include strong, clear conscience protection for individuals and institutions increased training for health care providers in palliative care across all set

A major new EFC survey suggests half of Canadians are either agnostic, atheist or unreligious. And only a tenth attend religious services weekly. How will the church respond? The 2019 Church and Faith Trends Survey was conducted with 5,011 Canadians over the age of 18 August 12–16, 2019 on the Maru/Blue research panel. The survey was conducted in English and French. A detailed introduction to the survey and its results is included in the Jan/Feb 2020 issue of Faith Today maga

The EFC was granted intervener status in the Lamb case in B.C., which involved attempts to expand access to assisted suicide and euthanasia. The case would have been argued before the Supreme Court of British Columbia. The EFC was intervening with the Christian Legal Fellowship. However, the Lamb case was adjourned in September 2019 because Julia Lamb has been approved for MAID (Medical Assistance in Dying). EFC-CLF Notice of Application to Intervene (Dec. 7, 2018) BC Civil L