Dear Friend,

Since 1964, the EFC has been a strong and positive evangelical voice in the public square on important issues of life and faith, seeking the good of all Canadians.
 
We work to impact our nation for Christ by promoting justice and righteousness. Even now, we are busy preparing for several court interventions that will take place in the next fiscal year, which begins in June. There is an urgent need to build up the EFC’s legal fund immediately.
 
Defending Doctor-Conscience Rights
 
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario had adopted a policy that requires doctors to either perform a medical service themselves or to provide an effective referral, even if the procedure violates their deeply held beliefs. Many doctors believe that procedures like abortion and doctor-assisted suicide are tantamount to murder and that providing effective referrals for such procedures is no different morally and ethically than committing the acts themselves.
 
As an intervenor in the provincial court hearings, the EFC defended the right of physicians to be able to practice medicine without being forced to violate their religious beliefs and identities. We are now preparing to intervene in this case when it reaches the Supreme Court of Canada. At stake is the conscience rights and religious freedom of all Canadians.
 
Expanding Access to Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
 
Doctor-assisted suicide and euthanasia has been legal in Canada since 2016. The law currently restricts access to competent, consenting adults whose deaths are reasonably foreseeable and who are in advanced states of irreversible decline. However, a B.C. woman and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association are preparing to argue in B.C. Superior Court that the law is too restrictive and unconstitutional. They want doctor-assisted suicide to be accessible to any person who is suffering from a chronic and untreatable condition, even if they are not approaching end of life. This would expose many individuals – but especially the elderly, the disabled and the chronically ill – to serious vulnerabilities. In moments of weakness, they may consider or be coerced into ending their lives even though death is not imminent.
 
The EFC believes in the sanctity of life and strongly opposes euthanasia and assisted suicide. We are intervening in this case this fall. We will make every effort to ensure that the eligibility restrictions for MAID remain as tight as possible to minimize harm and risk to the vulnerable.
 
Religious Freedom & Values Testing
 
The Canada Summer Jobs (CSJ) program is a federal grants program that allows many Christian charitable organizations to hire students for jobs each summer. In 2018, organizations seeking grants were required to attest that their core mandates align with the government’s stance on certain moral issues.
 
Although this “values test” was removed from the 2019 CSJ application in response to widespread opposition, the government still faces nine lawsuits contesting the 2018 requirement. We believe that the values test violates the very rights the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is designed to protect. Public funds should not be withheld from law-abiding organizations just because they do not wish to affirm certain government ideologies.

The EFC is preparing to intervene in the court cases. We must ensure that such unconstitutional, ideological tests will never again be imposed by a government in administering a public benefit program.
 
Gay Straight Alliances in Faith-Based Schools
 
The previous Albertan government had passed a Bill that threatens to removing public funding from schools that will not update their policies and codes of conduct to include language on Gay Straight Alliances (GSAs) by June 2019. The Bill forces faith-based schools to disregard the beliefs of the schools and parents in responding to matters of sexual identity. Schools are also forbidden to inform parents of a child’s participation in GSAs and of the nature of the teachings and activities.
 
A coalition of faith-based schools, individuals, educational organizations and parent organizations, led by the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms, has filed a court challenge to argue that the Bill violates the freedoms of conscience, religion, expression and association, as well as parental rights. The coalition was also seeking a temporary injunction to put the law on hold until there is a ruling on its constitutionality. The EFC was an intervenor in this case. Until Alberta’s new government decides whether they will repeal this legislation, we will continue to be involved in the courts.
 
Let me be frank. Court interventions are costly. But when the stakes are high and the issues have an impact on religious freedom and the sanctity of human life, we must get involved.
 
We need to build up our financial reserves now! Your donation today will help us start the fiscal year strong and enable us to tackle the issues that concern many Evangelicals across Canada. Your prayers and financial gifts are crucial to the work of the EFC and can impact the nation for Christ. Will you make a gift today?

Sincerely,

Bruce Clemenger
President

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