Canada

Heathen candidate runs for office in Saskatchewan

By |

[Note: Today, September 6 has been declared World Goddess Day. Pagans around the globe are participating in activities that celebrate the divine feminine. To see what is happening in your area, go to the official World Goddess Day site for a listing of the 2015 registered events. For more on the day’s history, check out our previous report.]

SASKATCHEWAN – Election mania is sweeping Canada. Canadians are preparing to go to the polls Oct. 19 to elect a new Prime Minister to lead the country.

Canada

Canadian Truth and Reconciliation

By |

OTTAWA, Ontario – Last month, a landmark document was delivered to the people of Canada. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) released its much anticipated report summary, detailing 94 recommendations to heal the generations of conflict, racism, mistrust and misunderstanding that were created by the Indian Residential School system in Canada. Indian Residential Schools were created by the Canadian government in the late 19th century as a way to assimilate aboriginal children into the developing white Canadian society. Aboriginal children were removed, typically by force, from their families and home communities.They were taken to residential schools and forbidden to speak their own languages and were denied access to their culture. Many survivors of the residential school system report extreme cases of physical and sexual abuse, starvation and neglect at these institutions, which were co-run by the church and the state.

Canada

The Story of Canadian Witch Heather Carr (1974-2015)

By |

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Early morning on March 31, Heather Arlene Carr, known as Kiteria in her magical community, set out to perform a healing ritual for her ailing Uncle. Within a rock art installment at Riverside Park, Carr began her rite in night’s darkness at 2:30 a.m. Carr was a “night owl” and comfortable with being alone. The park was a place she frequented. Nothing about the evening was unusual for the longtime witch. However, on this particular night, something went tragically wrong.

Canada

Heathen runs for Liberal Party nomination in Canada

By |

Robert Rudachyk is seeking the nomination to become the Liberal Party of Canada’s candidate for the federal riding of Saskatoon West. What makes this run for office unusual is that Rudachyk appears to be the first openly Heathen candidate to run for public office in Canada. The nomination meeting is set for November 12 and the political process is very different, and much more complex, than what may be familiar to U.S. readers. In order to be nominated as a candidate, Rudachyk needed to first collect at least $1000 in donations and get the signatures of 10% of the party members in the riding (a area similar to an American electoral district), or recruit enough new members to sign his nomination papers to meet that number. Since Rudachyk was able to do that, he then went on to fill out a detailed form about his background, financial status, education, every job and address he’s had for the last ten years, along with several work and personal references.

Canada

Canadian supreme court hears religious freedom case

By |

In Canada’s Quebec Province, there has been an on-going debate over the teaching of a government mandated Ethics and Religious Culture Program (Programme Éthique et culture religieuse.) The ERC school curriculum was created and implemented in 2008 by former premier Jean Charest. Since that point it has caused multiple controversies and court cases which have now taken the debate to the steps of Canada’s highest court. According to this mandate all Quebec schools, private and public, must teach a prescribed Ethics and Religious Culture curriculum or an equivalent. The province’s website explains:
For the purposes of this program, instruction in ethics is aimed at developing an understanding of ethical questions that allows students to make judicious choices based on knowledge of the values and references present in society. The objective is not to propose or impose moral rules, nor to study philosophical doctrines and systems in an exhaustive manner.