ELECTION 2008

Although Canadians will head to the polls in only one week, it's no surprise that many of them are showing more interest in the American election than our own.

The U.S. election is replete with lively characters, intrigue, and issues ranging from war and health care to an economy that looks as though it's going toe to toe with a prize fighter.

One of the biggest controversies in Canada's election has been whether Prime Minister Stephen Harper had the right to call the election in the first place. (In fact he did. The so-called fixed election date legislation makes the fixed election date "subject to an earlier dissolution of Parliament," which makes sense since a minority government can be defeated at any time. As a result, the law allows the Governor General to dissolve Parliament at her discretion.)

However there are critical issues in the Canadian election, and a number of organizations and groups have put together election resource guides on how to approach the election from Christian, Catholic, and moral perspectives.

Here are a few of the more relevant ones.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

The first on any list of Catholic election resources has to be the Federal Election 2008 Guide produced by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops.

This is an impressive document, produced by the CCCB's Social Affairs Commission, which invites Catholics to vote with discernment. It calls on Catholics to become better informed on issues, make themselves heard by candidates, "and most of all, to vote."

Having a well-formed Christian conscience, says the guide, means Catholics may not vote for "a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals."

The four-page text goes on to list some basic principles from Catholic moral and social teaching to help voters examine and evaluate public policy and programs.

The bishops point out that their instruction represents "not a political platform but a perspective in order to help examine and evaluate public policy and programs."

The top issues for the bishops are:

• Respect for the life and dignity of the human person;
• Preferential option for the poor;
• The war in Afghanistan;
• The environment.

The document can be downloaded from the Archdiocese of Vancouver's web site, www.rcav.org.

The bishops have also been busy of late on the pro-life front, drafting a pastoral letter inviting the faithful to rediscover Pope Paul VI's "prophetic" encyclical Humanae Vitae.
Marking the 40th anniversary of the controversial 1968 document, the letter notes how Pope Paul VI anticipated the "troubling evolution" of marriage and the family because of a "contraceptive mentality."
This document also can be found on the Archdiocese of Vancouver's web site, www.rcav.org.

Respect Life Office, Archdiocese of Vancouver

The Archdiocese of Vancouver's web site, www.rcav.org, also contains a link to the Respect Life Office, the web site of which is always rich with election resources. This year is no exception.

Among the items on the site (click on Life and Marriage Issues) are:

• A Canadian Catholic Voter's Guide
• Doctrinal Note on some questions regarding The Participation of Catholics in Political Life
• Catechism References
• Party Platforms
• Questions for Candidates

Also on the RCAV web site as well as the Respect Life site: www.rcav.org/OLF (click on Election Info) can be found material from Elections Canada. The Elections Canada site contains an abundance of information on the parties and candidates as well as voter information.

Their site also contains the archdiocese's own Catholic Voter's Guide as well as a link to the Vatican document A Doctrinal Note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life.

Institute for Marriage and Family

Canada's Institute for Marriage and Family has produced its own list of issues that it hopes to see discussed during this federal campaign and subsequently, the 40th Parliament. The issues include family taxation and demographics.

The institute's elections document, entitled "Are Canada's politicians talking about what Canadians want to hear?" can be found at www.imfcanada.org.

Church Council on Justice and Corrections

One of the many election resources on the RCAV site is a link to the Church Council on Justice and Corrections, and its document Elections 2008 - Criminal Justice Policy.

The Canadian Council of Churches and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops co-founded The Church Council on Justice and Corrections in 1972, and the elections document notes that it is "crucial that we invest in policies that can effectively address victims' needs and help reduce crime and re-offending." It then lists a number of questions suitable for asking candidates, ranging from minimum sentencing to new prison construction.

Fidelis

The site www.catholicvote.com was produced by the organization Fidelis (Latin for faithful), the collective mission of which is to promote and defend public policies that uphold religious freedom, human life from conception to natural death, and the traditional institutions of marriage and family.

Although highly American, the site presents a stirring portrait of the importance of the Catholic as a civic contributor and the importance of voting.

The site includes a powerful video designed to encourage viewers to prioritize the issues of life, faith, and family. In addition to the video, the site has how to register to vote, candidate positions, documents from the bishops, and an invitation to join in prayer.

The highlight of CatholicVote.com is a powerful 3:30 documentary on Catholic contributions to American public life. The video connects the fight for civil rights, human dignity, and the family throughout the history of the U.S. The dramatic conclusion of the film urges viewers to "Vote Your Conscience."

Canada Family Action Coalition

The site www.familyaction.org contains links to party positions on critical issues as well as a national call to prayer that involves praying for our country as well as "candidates of character," and supporting them with action.

REAL Women of Canada

REAL Women of Canada can always be relied on to offer its insight on critical public issues, and Election '08 is no exception.

The organization has produced a pamphlet called "Strengthening Our Nation" which sets out the positions of the three major parties on current issues such as child care, family taxation, and pornography.

Absent is abortion, for one clear reason. "Since none of the three major parties has seen fit to stand up for life, no comparison can be made on this issue; as a result it was not included in the pamphlet. This does not mean that abortion does not matter, as it is important that each of us question the candidates on this issue. There are individual candidates within the major parties, both Liberal and Conservative, who do stand up for life, and they should be supported."

The document can be found at www.realwomenca.com.

Catholic Insight magazine

There is an excellent editorial from Father Alphonse de Valk, CSB, editor of Catholic Insight magazine, at http://catholicinsight.com/online/editorials/article_849.shtml.
In his Letter to Catholic Voters, Father de Valk points out, "Voting is a moral act."

In some matters of morality, such as immigration, universal health care, and affordable housing, "the use of reason allows for a legitimate diversity in our prudential judgments." Other acts, regardless of the motive or circumstances, always "involve doing evil" and must be opposed: "These choices include elective abortion, euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide, the destruction of embryonic human beings in stem-cell research, human cloning, and same-sex `marriage.'"

Campaign Life Coalition

The most comprehensive source of information about the election and high priority life issues is Campaign Life Coalition's candidate evaluations, which can be found at www.campaignlifecoalition.com/elections/federal.

The guide has candidates' responses to questions on abortion and euthanasis for every riding in Canada. Information will be updated right up to election day.