The life-saving victories of 2024

Hello all,

A few columns to wrap up 2024.

At The European Conservative, I spoke with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who talked about her conversion to Christianity, living with Islamist death threats daily, and her new media venture: “The Virtue That Enables All Others: A Conversation with Ayaan Hirsi Ali.”

At the Western Standard, I have a column on some of the incredible things accomplished by social conservatives in Canada during 2024 on fighting gender ideology, halting the expansion of euthanasia, and changing public opinion on abortion. An excerpt from “The fight against Woke goes on — and is marking up some wins”:

As 2024 draws to a close, Canadian social conservatives might be tempted to feel a sort of political seasonal affective disorder.

• Justin Trudeau is still prime minister.

• The federal government pushes extremist woke ideologies both at home, and abroad, where abortion and LGBT ideology are two of Canada’s primary exports.

• According to Canada’s annual “MAID” report, 15,343 people died by euthanasia in 2023.

• A horrifying — and largely unremarked — study from the University of Montreal revealed that one in four babies aborted at 23 weeks gestation in Quebec are born alive and left to die.

Canada, as a number of foreign press outlets have noted, has become a “progressive” cautionary tale. Thus, it is particularly important to note that this is only part of the story. Social conservatives have also done incredible work to protect the vulnerable, and that work has yielded real results. On euthanasia, gender ideology, and abortion, we have seen good news, as well.

In Alberta, Premier Danielle Smith put forward legislation protecting minors from sex change surgeries, puberty blockers, and recognizing parental rights. The legislation includes:

• Licensed doctors are prohibited from performing sex change surgeries on youth under 18 in Alberta.

• Puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones will be prohibited for minors under the age of 16 unless the minors have already begun taking those drugs.

• Those “born biologically male” (that is, males) will be prohibited from competing against women and girls in competitive sports.

• Parental opt-in will be required for “each instance” a teacher wishes to discuss gender identity, sexual orientation, or human sexuality.

• Parental notification is required for “socially transitioning” a student — that is, changing a student’s given name or pronouns. Unfortunately, 16- and 17-year-olds are still allowed to decide to change their name or pronouns in school, but parents must be notified.

This is an enormous step forward, and Smith has already stated that she is willing to use the “notwithstanding clause” to ensure that these laws take effect. Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe has already used the “notwithstanding clause” to protect parental rights, and in response to the stand being taken by provincial premiers, federal Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has staked out a similar position opposing aspects of gender ideology and supporting parental rights. Transgender ideology is deeply embedded in Canadian institutions, but we may be witnessing the high tide — and the turn.

In February, the Trudeau government announced that it would once again delay expanding eligibility for assisted suicide to those suffering from mental illness, which would have come into effect in March. It is no exaggeration to say that this expansion would have placed the lives of countless Canadians struggling with mental illness at risk, as anyone who has ever walked alongside a loved one struggling with suicidal ideation is well aware. The expansion has been delayed until 2027— by then, a Conservative government will have had the opportunity to pass a law banning assisted suicide for the mentally ill.

This delay was the product of an enormous amount of work. Conservative MPs traveled across the country hosting town halls to warn Canadians about the dangers of assisted suicide; I attended one in Oxford County, where parliamentarians from Alberta and BC spoke in refreshingly blunt terms about the moral dangers of euthanasia in general and its application to mental illness specifically. Disability rights activists, groups such as Canadian Physicians for Life, individual medical professionals, and ordinary Canadians also did tremendous grassroots work to protect our most vulnerable populations. Assisted suicide for mental illness would have been a disaster. For now, thank God, we have avoided it.

Read the entire thing here.

Finally, at The Bridgehead, I have an interview with the grandson of Rudolf Höss--the commandant of Auschwitz and a man responsible for over a million deaths. Kai Höss and his father Hans, who grew up in the family villa in Auschwitz (the one portrayed in The Zone of Interest) recently returned to Auschwitz and met with Holocaust survivors for a documentary on intergenerational Holocaust trauma, The Commandant’s Shadow. It is an incredible documentary. Kai Höss is now the pastor of the Bible Church of Stuttgart:

As always, follow the podcast wherever you get your content, if interested! Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Rumble, or YouTube. If you’re interested in a copy of my new book How We Got Here: A Guide to Our Anti-Christian Culture, you can buy it at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, or at The Bridgehead.