CLC Blog

Do you know why we march for life every year? 

It feels like a lot of pro-lifers have forgotten.  

Is it to raise awareness about abortion? 

Is it to have a fun time chanting about how much we love babies?  

Is it an excuse to stretch your legs and get in some cardio?  

Not really.  

If our primary purpose was any of the above, we could do that anywhere—we wouldn’t have to go to Ottawa.  

We march for life in order to call upon Parliament to enact legal protection for all human beings from conception to natural death.  

We take this mission seriously.  

Many of our supporters ask why we march on a Thursday—why not a weekend? Or at least the end of the week? 

We march on a Thursday, in Ottawa, because typically, in most years, that’s when our legislators are sitting in the House of Commons. (Many will fly back to their constituencies on Friday afternoons.) 

We want them to hear us. We want them to know we’re here—even if they hole up inside, bitter and ashamed.  

To acknowledge the elephant in the room: Yes, most of our legislators don’t listen to us. They’re actively hostile to the pro-life movement and have an entrenched interest in pushing abortion and euthanasia.  

Nonetheless, while they may (try to) ignore us, we must never tire of demanding an end to these human rights injustices. This task falls to us—to serve as Canada’s moral conscience. 

Abortion and euthanasia are federal issues.  

If we sincerely wish to see them re-criminalized, we must appeal to Parliament, because the Criminal Code of Canada falls under federal jurisdiction. It is the Criminal Code of Canada that currently defines “human being” as one fully separate from his or her mother.  

When Campaign Life Coalition founded the National March for Life in 1998, we were headquartered in Toronto. Many of our supporters were also there.  

We decided to hold the National March for Life in Ottawa because that’s where it needed to be. 

We have brought many projects to Canada over the years—Life Chain, 40 Days for Life, etc.—that have a spiritual or educational focus.  

The National March for Life, however, is a political protest.  

We may all have our own area of the movement for which we feel most passionate. Maybe it’s volunteering at a crisis pregnancy centre. Maybe it’s ministering to post-abortive men and women in need of healing or instructing teens on chastity.  

Regardless, we cannot forget our ultimate aim of restoring legal protection for every human being. We cannot be apolitical.  

Over the years, we started up provincial marches due to the impracticalities of travelling to Ottawa annually from outside Ontario or Québec.  

For those in the West or Atlantic Canada, protesting outside of a provincial legislature may be the next best thing, as pro-lifers call on their provincial governments to do what they can to restrict abortion and protect life.  

But make no mistake: It is only our federal Members of Parliament who have the power, and thus the responsibility, to re-criminalize abortion.  

And it is OUR responsibility to hold them to account until they do so.   

Therefore, those who can come to Ottawa should.  

What, really, is the point of anything we do for the pro-life cause, if we forsake our goal? We want to end abortion and euthanasia. Do we actually mean that or not?  

Travelling to Ottawa, even within Ontario, can be inconvenient. It can be expensive.  

But we have an obligation to be there if we are able, to insist our legislators fulfill the duty they’ve neglected for the past 57 years.  

Parliament may be derelict in its duty, but the pro-life movement must never be derelict in ours.  

It’s not sufficient just to show up once and idly hope new people—different people—will assume your spot the subsequent year. Don’t expect others to be there in your stead.   

No, the march should be growing, with more and more pro-lifers flocking to Ottawa every year.  

Take YOUR place on the Hill. Be a voice for the pre-born and every vulnerable person. Represent those pro-lifers from your community who are physically unable to make the trip themselves.  

We don’t march just to feel good about ourselves.  

We march to issue a CRITICAL political demand to Parliament that cannot be issued from anywhere else or by any others. It's a specific call issued to the specific people who have the power to fulfill it.  

So, take the day off work. Pull your kids from school.

As per our theme: “And He said to them, 'Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:19-20) 

Can we not drop our nets for a day?

Please find out if a bus is headed from your area here: https://marchforlife.ca/buses/. Note: Buses are still being added as details are confirmed. Contact us if you’re aware of a local bus that is not yet listed on our site.  

If your local right-to-life group or church isn’t already sending a bus, please ask them to do so.  

Let me be frank: If you want to march in Québec City or Toronto or participate in your own community’s Walk for Life, do so. It’s good to raise awareness—and even to lobby provincial legislators.  

*But these are not substitutes for the National March for Life.* 

So, make sure you show up in Ottawa. You have a moral duty to be here. You have a message to deliver to Parliament.