Today, the temperature is -22 C., and here I am sitting in an unheated van in a parking lot near our national offices in downtown Toronto, working on this letter to you.

The only way I can complete these appeal letters is by finding complete privacy somewhere and after prayerful contemplation, putting into words my requests to you. I began this task (which is always difficult) ten days ago - first in Toronto, then in Washington D.C., and now back in Canada.

By the time you read this letter, the House of Commons may have already debated Bill C-13, An Act Respecting Human Reproduction, and voted on it. The Parliamentary calendar, which we received in late 2002, showed Parliament reconvening in the second week of February 2003. But by a stroke of luck, we learned that the Prime Minister's Office had changed the calendar and as a result, Parliament was recalled the week of January 27 and guess what? One of the first priorities was to debate Bill C-13 with a view of giving it quick passage.

This piece of legislation was first discussed by the Royal Commission on New Reproductive Technologies chaired by Patricia Baird and which issued its report in 1993. It has been debated in the health committee where Campaign Life Coalition (and others) made presentations and where we put forward our best possible defense of human beings in the embryonic stage of life.

As you will recall, in the CLC National News, we initiated telephone conference calls with MPs and their staff more than 18 months ago, attempting to bring everyone up to speed on cloning and stem cell research.

In the monthly newsletters that followed we requested all our supporters especially YOU to contact their MPs and persuade them to support the stem cell research that doesn't necessitate the killing of human beings. Adult stem cells have a proven track record; embryonic stem cell research means that a human embryo is killed.

We correspond regularly with all MPs on the issue and provide them with positive alternatives to the undesirable elements of the proposed legislation.

Campaign Life Coalition produced materials to assist our MPs in making the proper and informed decision on how to vote. These materials we produced relied heavily on the expertise of Dr. Dianne Irving, PhD. (Biochemistry) and Dr. John Shea, CLC Medical Advisor.

Karen Murawsky, who heads our Public Affairs office in Ottawa, lawyer Richard Marchak of Kitchener, and researcher Hilary White of Toronto, went through Bill C-56 (which later became Bill C-13) clause by clause. The result was a series of amendments that altered the legislation positively and yet still accomplish what the government purported it to do.

We provided each amendment with further explanations so that MPs could follow the rationale behind each suggested change. All were rejected by the committee but were gratefully accepted by MPs open to the information.

We also wrote letters to all the Catholic bishops of Canada alerting them to the legislation and requesting that they encourage priests across the country to deliver homilies on the subject.

Letters were also sent to all Catholic and Evangelical pastors with suggested sermons or ideas for sermons, to deliver to their congregations.

Now we are placing advertisements in religious publications urging readers to contact their MPs to defeat the legislation. In addition, radio advertisements are now running on various Christian and secular networks across the country.

You may not see our ads until after the vote has taken place and in the event that it passes we ask you to write to the various senators from your province in order to have them defeat this odious legislation in the Senate.

Also, please call them in their Ottawa offices -- you may be surprised that unlike most MPs, the senators are more accessible. If you need help finding your senator's phone or fax numbers, please contact us either at the Ottawa office (613) 729-0379 or the national office at 1-800-730 5358.

Thank you for the efforts you have put in on this legislation. Bill C-13 is the most important anti-life bill to come before the House of Commons since the Omnibus Bill of 1969 brought in virtually abortion-on-demand.

If, by the grace of God, the House has not passed Bill C-13 by the time you read this, please call the office of your MP and demand its defeat.

As you can see, these and all other strategies require your complete support through prayer, action and sacrificial giving. In her book, The Secret of Effective Prayer, author Helen Smith writes: "Our most effective secret weapon against the forces of evil of this world right now is universal and continuous prayer. A spiritual renaissance among the God-fearing people of the world is more to be feared by evil principalities and powers than nuclear weapons."

The battle on Bill C-13 is reaching its final stages. The government and the media continue to mislead the public over the content and scope of this anti-life legislation. We must continue to educate the public and their representatives about what this bill really does and does not do.

Right now we need you to assist us in paying for these advertisements to defeat this legislation that will allow the wholesale slaughter of human beings for profit and manipulation. Please give generously to this effort -- it is the last chance to defeat this bill (either in the House of Commons or later in the Senate). God speed.

If a doctor said that there was a small chance to cure a debilitating or deadly disease you were suffering from, but that the source of that cure was another human being who had to be killed and disembodied, would you still want that cure? And regardless if you wanted it, wouldn't you know it was unethical? Scientists, politicians and journalists who claim that embryonic stem cells are a source for cures for Alzhiemers, Parkinson's, diabetes, some forms of cancer and other diseases are guilty of not only offering snake oil - embryonic stem cell research has yet to provide any cures or treatments - but of promising possible respite to the afflicted by immoral means. That's why it is so puzzling that they continue to offer this false hope when ethical and proven (and more promising) methods of stem cell therapies exist.

We have reported numerous times that bone marrow transplants are a form of stem cell therapy for leukemia (mainly) that has been used for two decades. But there are also exciting possibilities for other treatments that are either at the clinical trial stage or near that point. The Associated Press ran a story on December 30, 2002, that reported on the success of umbilical cord blood that was frozen for 15 years, revived and used to grow stem cells in laboratory mice. Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine say that preserved specimens of umbilical cord blood could restore bone marrow in cancer patients and obtain adult stem cells for other scientific research. Advocates of destructive embryonic stem cell research opposed umbilical cord blood as a source for stem cells because there was thought to be a 5-year window to use frozen cord blood. The news that 15-year-old frozen cord blood was able to grow in laboratory cultures with the same vigor as fresh cord blood destroys that argument. It also buttresses our efforts for the establishment of a special national umbilical cord blood bank from which all Canadians could have an ethical source of stem cells for treatment.

Two weeks before the AP story, doctors at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles announced they had used stem cells from bone marrow to generate brain cells and nervous system cells that can be used to treat brain cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases. The journal Experimental Neurology reported that Dr. John Yu, co-director of the brain tumor program, injected genetically engineered neural stem cells into the arteries of rats with stroke-related brain lesions. Forty-eight hours later found that transplanted cells had been distributed throughout the damaged part of the brain. Dr. Yu said similar results have been seen in human tissue.

It is a shame that part of the research community is falsely promoting embryonic stem cell research as a viable and ethical cure to disease when real treatments from ethical sources are so near. The focus on embryonic stem cell research diverts money and personnel from real solutions. We support stem cell research but we are against stem cells taken from embryos destroyed for harvest. Any gains from such research are illicit and must be rejected. More importantly, we can save ourselves the quandary by prohibiting such research in the first place.

Please call your MPs and demand that they vote against Bill C-13 which permits embryonic stem cell research. Urge that they support the life-affirming creation of a special umbilical cord blood bank from which stem cells can be taken for individual patients when needed in the future.

The Raelians, a cult based in Quebec which believes that aliens cloned human beings thousands of years ago to populate the earth, claims that its Clonaid company is responsible for the birth of the world's first cloned human being. The child, born the day after Christmas and named Eve (get it?) has yet to be genetically tested to see if the wild claims are true, but an international debate over human cloning has begun nonetheless. (The Raelians said another child was born to a lesbian couple in the Netherlands two weeks later, and again refused to have their claims independently verified.) We hope that the revulsion of reproductive cloning will lead the public to demand a complete ban on human cloning. Indeed, in the United States, Congressman Curt Weldon has introduced a bill banning all cloning. Yet in Canada, we are still waiting.

The government claims that cloning will be banned by Bill C-13. But expert analysis by Dianne Irving, Biochemist and Professor of Philosophy and Ethics at Catholic University of America, points to flaws in Bill C-13 that permit human cloning, namely the failure to name seven specific methods of cloning and misdefining another. This is a loophole scientists will use to clone human beings. She noted this in a written submission but Health Minister Anne McLellan, the federal government and even some pro-life MPs on both sides of the aisle, believe the bill bans human cloning and thus, (for pro-life MPs) is worth supporting despite whatever other flaws it contains. Bill C-13 cleared the Health Committee just before Christmas and has been sent back to Parliament for a vote, presumably in February. CLC calls on the federal government to withdraw this bill which is a Pandora's box of horrors for human life.

The Raelian announcement is predictable. As we noted in our press release, "Every 'mad' scientist in the world will want to be the first to create a clone. The sacredness of human life will be lost in this rush to get their name in print. Every attempt to clone has been a disaster, even when animals such as 'Dolly' were the object of the experimentation." Indeed, a Russian researcher, Vyacheslav Tarantul, head of Russia's Molecular Genetics Institute, said efforts to clone human beings will result in a "monster 99% of the time," and warns that "nearly all cloning efforts have led to horrific biological deformations." He said in animal clones, anomalies were found in almost all cases, with cancer being the most common. It is morally irresponsible to use this technology considering the risks. It simply must not be allowed to happen.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has sent one-worlder Maurice Strong to North Korea to "assess the humanitarian situation" in the country. Strong should be a familiar name to Canadians, but unfortunately few people know about his real and very dangerous influence. Strong is a major player at the UN where he has often advocated strategies that undermine democracy, national sovereignty and traditional religion. As LifeSite recently reported: "For years, he has used his extensive web of high level international connections to advance the demise of these and other elements he believes are causing a too numerous and environmentally irresponsible humanity to endanger the planet." Strong, a Canadian who has led various corporations including Power Corporation of Canada and Petro Canada, as well as once serving as head of the Canadian International Development Agency, is a leading advocate of one-world government. He also supports radical population control schemes because he views human population as a threat to the environment. As Ronald Bailey noted in a cover story in National Review 5 years ago, entitled "International Man of Mystery," Strong's "most prominent and influential role to date was as Secretary General of the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development" in Rio de Janeiro, which promulgated the concept of sustainable development and its underlining principle, the immediate depopulation of the developing world. Bailey quoted a Reagan ambassador, Charles Lichenstein, who said Strong is "dangerous because he's a much smarter and shrewder man (than many in the UN system) … I think he is a very dangerous ideologue, way over to the Left." Furthermore, it was Strong who exacerbated the problem of radical non-governmental organizations influencing the UN when he arranged for their inclusion at the Rio summit and encouraged their agitation at home. But that was not the last heard we from Strong. In 2001, he, along with fellow de-population advocates Mikhail Gorbachev and Stephen Rockefeller, co-produced the Earth Charter as a New World Ten Commandments. You might say this is just simple nonsense that can be ignored but Strong has close connections to many world leaders (past and present) and is often named as a possible Secretary General of the United Nations. It is worrying that Annan has sent Strong to the Korean peninsula, a delicate mission. We must keep our eye on him, especially for any suggestion that one of the region's problems is overpopulation. We will keep you up-to-date.

Despite the denial of the existence of post-abortion syndrome by abortion advocates, there is substantial evidence to prove that women who have had abortions suffer psychologically after the ordeal. The latest such evidence is provided by Dr. David Reardon of the Elliot Institute, who reports in the December 2002 American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology that women with a prior history of abortion are twice as likely to use alcohol, five times more likely to use illicit drugs, and ten times more likely to use marijuana during the first pregnancy they carry to term compared to other women delivering their first pregnancies. The study is based on the National Pregnancy and Health Survey, using a nationally representative sample of 2,613 women who had recently given birth and is the 17th study linking abortion to higher rates of substance abuse. Abortion advocates who claim to care about women's health, are turning a blind eye toward this trend that is dangerous to women and their children.

As we go to press, CLC delegates are actively monitoring Canada's fifth periodic report to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Committee January 23-31 2003 in New York. The committee and Canada's report seems benign enough, after all who doesn't want the elimination of discrimination against women? But here's what you should know about CEDAW: this convention is the primary UN treaty that is openly geared towards pushing "reproductive health services" (read: abortion) on all of its signatories. Basically, by signing onto the treaty, Canada has turned over the power of legislative review to an unelected body of 23 committee members. This committee gets to pass judgment on the effectiveness and justness of our national legislation and make recommendations on how we should proceed. In the past it has condemned countries for having too many restrictions on abortion and for recognizing the importance of mothers.

Not that it necessarily had far to go, but under Dalton McGuinty, the Ontario Liberal Party has moved firmly to the left on almost every social issue, to the point that it is now almost indistinguishable from the provincial NDP on life and family issues. That is what The Interim reported in 1999. Sadly, it is still true today. McGuinty, a Catholic from Ottawa and the son of the late pro-life MPP Dalton McGuinty Sr., said he supports abortion and the gay agenda (including adoption rights for homosexuals) and opposes parental choice in education, most vividly by promising to repeal the Education Tuition Tax Credit. We are especially concerned about McGuinty's position on abortion. In 1995, he answered a Campaign Life Coalition questionnaire, stating that life begins at conception, but that he still supported abortion and he has reiterated that support on numerous occasions since then. He told CBC Metro Morning (December 2, 1996) that "I believe in a woman's right to choose." He told The Interim (October 1996) he supported tax payer funding of abortion. Not that the Harris-Eves government has been any better over the last 7 years, including the continued funding of security at Morgentaler's Toronto abortuary and refusal to drop the Rae government's "temporary" bubble-zone injunction prohibiting pro-life witnesses near abortuaries. While there are individual pro-life MPPs in both parties, the only political party committed to recognizing the sanctity of human life and the traditional definition of the family is the Family Coalition Party. They deserve your support, especially in ridings with no other pro-life candidates. Voting for the FCP sends a strong message that abortion is wrong and that the major parties must oppose it. In the meantime, if you are inclined to support the Liberals, NDP or Tories, work within them to get pro-life candidates and a pro-life platform. But remember, come election time, it is morally wrong and politically disastrous to vote for politicians who support abortion.

In November we watched the Republican Party south of the border ride to victory on the strength of their solidly conservative platform. Exit polls found that in several close races, the pro-life candidate won because of his or her opposition to abortion, sometimes gaining a five-to-one advantage among those for whom abortion is a decisive issue. Yet, in Canada, conservative parties continue to distance themselves from pro-life and other socially conservative voters. The Globe and Mail recently reported that Joe Clark is reaching out to "small-c" conservatives, but the Progressive Conservative leader's efforts extend only to those who want tax cuts and balanced budgets, i.e. fiscal conservatives. For his part, Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper has chosen to further alienate himself and remove the Party from its natural constituency of moral conservatives. In a year-end interview with the Calgary Herald, Harper said he wanted to rid the Alliance of a "too right-wing, too scary" image by distancing it from "sensitive" social conservatism. "On sensitive things, we will try to be clear where this party stands. My position on abortion, for example, will be that this party is not going to introduce abortion legislation … we're not going to have a referendum on it." It is sad that Harper feels that Canadians fighting to protect the lives of hundreds of thousands of unborn children are "too right-wing, too scary."

Campaign Life Coalition does not endorse any political party; instead we encourage pro-life Canadians to work within the party of their choice on behalf of the unborn. We remind supporters that come election time, support for abortion is a disqualifying issue and that candidates supporting abortion cannot be voted for. That is why information is so important and why we are preparing for provincial elections (which are expected in every province but B.C. and Alberta) and federal elections that are expected within the next year or so. We remind supporters that the Christian Heritage Party is the only federal party committed to protecting the unborn and deserves your support.

Over the course of a month, there were two surprisingly good court pronouncements that went in favour of the traditional family. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on December 19 that the province of Nova Scotia is not acting unconstitutionally when it discriminates between married couples and common-law couples. The Court found that the Nova Scotia Matrimonial Property Act was not a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms just because it does not include common-law couples within the definition of "spouse." The justices noted that some couples intentionally choose not to marry and thus imposing on them the obligations of marriage "nullifies the individual's freedom to choose alternative family forms and to have that choice respected by the state." Pro-family advocates have long argued that attempts to permit rights for homosexual couples normally reserved to married couples stems from previous faulty decisions granting common-law couples the rights of married couples. We applaud this decision recognizing the uniqueness of marriage.

On January 8, Judge Al Chrumka of Provincial Court of Alberta said he finds it "abhorrent" for couples to have children and then refuse to find a way to avoid splitting up and damaging the children's lives irreparably. While sentencing a 25-year-old separated mother to 9 months' probation for locking her unattended children inside a car on a hot day, Judge Chrumka said "That parties who decide to have children together should split for any reason is abhorrent to me." The judge made the remark after both separated parents complained about the challenges of single parenting during their testimony. Judge Chrumka said parents have a responsibility "not to separate," adding "If that means we have to suffer as parents because we don't like each other any more, then we still have to stay together for the benefit of the children."

The Interim, Canada's life and family newspaper, will hold its 20th anniversary dinner, April 24 at Spirale in Toronto (on Don Mills Road, north of Eglinton). The organizing committee is setting up a guest speaker and program that will include a silent auction and a tribute to past editors. Also, Jim Hughes, the first editor of The Interim, and Fr. Ted Colleton, whose column has appeared since the second issue, will reminisce about 20 years of pro-life journalism The Interim has provided our movement. Tickets are just $80 each or a pair for $150. Call Yoli at the office now to order tickets. If you have any quality items or services that can be used in the silent auction (a cottage or condo that you are willing to give up a for week, accounting services, legal advice, tickets to sporting events, artwork, first edition books, etc...) please contact Paul Tuns at (416) 204-1687. All money raised will go to further improvements in The Interim.

May 14 marks the 34th anniversary of the passing of the 1969 Omnibus Bill which effectively legalized abortion on demand. Next month we will have a report from Washington on the March for Life that took place there in late January, including our involvement (For the first time, we were invited by organizers to have a display at the March for Life 2003 Convention.) If pro-lifers in Canada want to see the kind of changes American pro-lifers are celebrating at the state and federal levels, they need to let all of Canada know that the unborn have a powerful voice that stands up for truth and votes on principle. (That's us, folks!) That is why the March for Life in Ottawa is so important - it sends a clear message to politicians, the journalists who cover them and the public that abortion is an issue that is not just going to go away. There is no social peace on abortion as the Prime Minister has claimed, and there won't be as long as more than 110,000 innocent unborn babies are killed in the womb every year.

This year's theme is "Life: The Only Choice." There will be a youth program featuring Chastity Challenge and other exciting speakers, a candlelight vigil (both held on May 13) and banquet featuring Dr. Jack Willke, the internationally respected pro-life leader and president of the International Right to Life Federation. Archbishop Marcel Gervais will speak on the Hill prior to the demonstration that weaves its way through the downtown streets of the capital. Please make arrangements today to join us. The more Canadians on the streets in Ottawa on May 14 the greater impression we will make on the public, the press and the politicians. They must all realize that the injustice of abortion must come to an end in this country.

Sometimes supporters can assist CLC in unexpected ways and one need that we currently have is for a used vehicle. One of our workers recently ran into serious car problems and needs a replacement vehicle but just can't afford to replace it. Are you able to assist this individual? If you have a car that can pass a safety test and is no longer needed, please contact our office at (416) 204 9749 or 1-800-730-5358. We thank you in advance for you help and co-operation.

The Interim and Friends of Father Ted Colleton are once again sponsoring an essay contest in honour of his life-long pro-life work. Entrants may win one of three scholarships with the value of $500, $300 and $200 respectively. Students must be in their graduating year of high school, and must submit an original essay (800 to 1000 words) on one of the following topics: a) Why Life Is the Only Choice, b) How to Strengthen Pro-Life Values and the Canadian Family, c) How to Effectively Communicate Pro-Life Values to Young People. Homeschooling students entering university are also welcome to submit entries. Further details regarding entry forms, eligibility, and timelines are available at http://www.lifesite.net or you can email Dan DiRocco at dirocco@lifesite.net for more information.

The Christmas cake sales campaign is over, but winter is still here. What could be nicer than a slice of delicious fruitcake doused in Bernie's hardlemon sauce (or your own favourite concotion) to help get through those cold snaps. We still have a limited quantity of those scrumptious cakes. Just phone in your order and we will send them out to you. Small cakes are $15 and the large cake in a decorative tin is just $22. Call Dan or Nadia at (416) 204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358.

Yours for life
Jim Hughes
National President

P.S. People are raving about the audio tapes of the presentations from the International Forum last October. If you haven't ordered yours, you can call Emma at 416-204-9749 or 1-800-730-5358 or check it out on the web at www.lifesite.net