By Brian Dryden, Canadian Catholic News
[Ottawa – CCN] – The ongoing COVID pandemic did not deter organizers of the national March for Life from returning to an in-person event May 13, 2021.
Hundreds of pro-life Canadians marched through the streets of the nation’s capital on May 13 and thousands more watched online as pro-life Canadians were told to stand up for their principles as the “culture of death” continues to seep into the nation’s soul.
“Do not compromise. Never, ever, backdown from your principles, even if it feels like you are all alone,” Independent MP Derek Sloan told hundreds of pro-life Canadians gathered on Parliament Hill.
They were back on the hill again for the annual March For Life after the actual in-person march was cancelled last year because of the COVID pandemic.
Even though the province of Ontario continues to have a stay-at-home edict in place, hundreds of pro-life Canadians and march organizers the Campaign Life Coalition were adamant that this year they would gather in-person on Parliament Hill again because, as one marcher told the Canadian Catholic News, “the pro-life message is an essential service.”
“They are still killing babies. This (COVID) hasn’t stopped abortions,” said Muriel Duclair, a Gatineau resident said when asked why she attended this year’s march even though most of the 2021 events surrounding the March For Life were also being broadcast online like they were in 2020.
“I feel it is important to do this in person if we can because it shows that we are not going to be silenced,” she said, as she held one of 300 roses that March For Life rally organizers handed out at the event to symbolize the 300 babies that are aborted every day in Canada.
March for Life organizers handed out 300 roses symbolizing the 300 children aborted on average each day in Canada. (Photo by Bryan Dryden, CCN)
Just before the march proceeded with a City of Ottawa police escort through the streets of downtown Ottawa, Campaign Life Coalition Ottawa organizer Debbie Duval joined with other speakers in denouncing the fact that while most non-emergency medical procedures have been cancelled or delayed since governments brought in severe COVID pandemic regulations since March 2020 to stop the spread of the virus, abortions have been treated as an essential service.
“They have not stopped, so why would we?” Duval said. “Nothing is more essential than life.”
The 2021 March for Life May 13 coincided with the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, with some participants carrying a statue in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary during the March for Life. (Photo by Bryan Dryden, CCN)
Signs that said “Abortion is not essential” were distributed by organizers and many protesters such as Rapa Tola displayed that message during the event as they gathered on Parliament Hill.
His sign said “Abortion is not health care”.
“How can aborting children be considered essential,” said Tola, who lives in Ottawa now but had lived in Alberta when he first came to Canada.
While one of the themes of this year’s March For Life was “you are not alone”, when it comes to political support for the pro-life movement during the rally on Parliament Hill pro-life Canadians were close to being alone.
The only sitting MP who took part in the rally was the former Conservative and now independent MP Derek Sloan. The only other political figure to speak at the rally was Christian Heritage Party (CHP) leader Rod Taylor. The CHP, which calls itself the only pro-life federal party in Canada since it was founded in 1987, has never elected an MP in a federal election.
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