By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA (CCN)
The year 2011 provided a roller-coaster ride of massive and surprising changes on the national political scene, changes partly influenced by a shift in Catholic voting patterns.
The year was also marked by the historic introduction of the new English translation of the Roman Missal, in use across the country since the first week of Advent, in a relatively smooth transition. Printed weeks ahead of schedule, a copy was ready for the bishops' October plenary and presented to the apostolic nuncio.
Last January the Conservatives celebrated five years in power, with two minority governments. Their narrow victories had already been attributed by party insiders and political scientists to a collapse of two pillars of Liberal support: Catholic and ethnic voters. From 2000-2008 Catholic support for the Liberals, their traditional home, plummeted 22 points.
Last spring's federal election produced astonishing results as the voting shift continued to swing to the Tories. The Conservatives surged to a comfortable majority of 166 seats, fuelled by the collapse of the Liberal Party, (reduced to 33 seats), and the near obliteration of the Bloc Quebecois, (only 4 seats), and an unprecedented orange tide as the New Democratic Party under their popular leader Jack Layton gain official opposition status for the first time in history, with 103 seats. The party won hugely and unexpectedly in Quebec, propelled by voters dissatisfied with the Liberals and the Bloc.
During the campaign, Catholic and Evangelical groups urged the discussion of serious issues, ranging from poverty and climate change to support for the family and the sanctity of human life. Prime Minister Stephen Harper refused to reopen the abortion debate, however, and pledged not to redefine marriage even if he won a majority.
But abortion refused to go away. The National March for Life in May, less than two weeks after the May 2 federal vote, drew 15,000 people, the largest crowd ever. Though many MPs were still in their ridings, many Catholic bishops attended, including the new Archbishop of Quebec Gerald Cyprien Lacroix, Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins, and many others hosted by Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast.
In June the Conservative Party policy convention renewed its support for the traditional family and the rights of parents to educate their children according to their beliefs. It even endorsed the traditional definition of marriage.
The untimely death in August of NDP Leader Jack Layton left the party in the throes of a leadership race that will be decided in March. Despite the vast numbers of new members, many are neophytes from Quebec who bring different values to the mix than those traditionally rooted in big labour and the socialist gospel.
The Liberals also need to name a new leader, though interim leader Bob Rae has been more effective in the House of Commons than NDP interim Leader Nycole Turmel. She is the former national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada but a newcomer to the House of Commons.
The NDP has brought the housing crisis of Attawapiskat to the fore through NDP MP Charlie Angus, a Catholic with strong belief in social justice. His Timmins James Bay riding includes the native community. Attawapiskat remains a political conflict zone, spotlighting the plight of many similar aboriginal communities on reserves in the north.
Even with an increased NDP presence, the opposition appears to have less clout than Jack Layton had in previous parliaments. Opposition parties dominated most parliamentary committees previously, and any legislation needed support of at least one. But with a comfortable majority, the Conservative government does not need to cultivate support from other parties.
Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto Accord in early December is a case in point. It appears the Conservatives paid lip service to Kyoto while they had minority governments.
Opposition parties have complained about how quickly the Tories have moved on passage of legislation such as their Omnibus Crime Bill, without sufficient debate.
Organizations that depend on government funding for human rights and social justice work overseas are experiencing some uncertainty as the government shifts its priorities and possibly different ideologies come into play. The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace, which submitted a new $10 million five-year plan, was supposed to hear Dec. 1, but the proposal has gone to Treasury Board for review.
One of the groups that has received government funding is the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), one of the biggest abortion promoters in the world. This is despite the government's pledge to not fund abortion in its maternal health initiative.
The Canadian International Development Agency said the funding was to go only towards health-related projects in countries where abortion is illegal, but the decision dismayed socially-conservative Catholics. The decision prompted Conservative MP Brad Trost, who had campaigned on defunding Planned Parenthood, to criticize his government publicly, a rare event in Harper's tightly-managed caucus.
One of two bright spots for Catholics is the Office of Religious Freedom promised during the election campaign, now in the consultation stage. The Catholic Civil Rights League was among the groups represented at a consultation in October.
Religious freedom on the domestic front received a boost when Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced government support this fall for Conservative MP Brian Storseth's private member's bill, C-304, that would repeal section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. This section, which deems any speech "likely" to expose designated groups to hatred or contempt hateful and discriminatory, has been used to prosecute Christian expression, as have similar provisions in provincial human rights acts.
While Parliament considers section 13, the Supreme Court of Canada is examining its constitutionality.
The court will also hear the case of a Drummondville couple who wanted to exempt their children from Quebec's mandatory Ethics and Religious Culture program. Their case was argued in May. Quebec has also ordered daycares run by religious denominations to stop teaching prayers or singing religious songs. Religious freedom and parental rights to educate their children remain controversial issues now before Canada's highest court.
On a sombre note, former Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey pleaded guilty in May to charges of importing child pornography just as his case was to go to trial. He opted to go directly to jail while awaiting his sentencing hearing Dec. 19, and his sentence was expected Jan 5.
In October McGill University hosted From Trauma to Transformation, a conference to examine what the sexual abuse crisis has taught the Church and ways to move towards healing.
In the spring a controversy involving the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace reached a crescendo when one of the original five Mexican partners LifeSiteNews.com identified in 2009 as pro-abortion sent a representative to speak about its work in Ottawa and Alexandria-Cornwall during this year's Share Lent campaign.
Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, SJ, of Ottawa cancelled the visit by Father Luis Arriaga after the priest would not give adequate assurances his Centro PRODH human rights agency fully supported Catholic teaching on life issues. CCODP soon cut funding to this partner of two decades Mexico City's cardinal archbishop wrote a letter to the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops saying the agency supported groups that promoted abortion.
This cancellation prompted CCODP supporters and employees to mount their own online campaign to defend the agency's lay run character and its ability to choose its partners in a long-standing coalition-building approach to social change. They objected to what they perceived as a policy requiring a "nihil obstat" from local bishops before overseas projects could go ahead despite the fact that most of their funding comes through a Share Lent collection promoted by the bishops.
The CCCB also adopted a pastoral plan for life and family that will begin with a preparatory year in the dioceses in 2012 before launching nationally in 2013.
On the episcopal front there were many changes, especially in Quebec, where many bishops have reached or will soon reach retirement age. Archbishop Gerald Lacroix was installed in his Quebec see in February.
Cardinal Ambrozic, Archbishop Emeritus of Toronto, died this year, leaving the country with only one cardinal, Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte of Montreal, who reached retirement age in June.
