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Our Director (Faytene Kryskow)'s Speech To Our Parliamentarians At Our 2008 Parliamentary Reception:

Good Evening! If you have not already heard it from one of our young people we want to begin by say a big WELCOME to all our of our Parliamentarians! (Applause and whooting). We appreciate you and we thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to be with us this evening. We really hope it will be a refreshing time, a tasty time and a fun time for you as you connect, heart to heart, with young people that have come from both far and near to honour you. That is what this night is for. It is our way of saying thank you to our Parliamentarians for their tireless service both to their constituents and to all Canadians. Plainly put: we think you are awesome! After these brief remarks we will encourage you to continue to eat, mix, mingle, dance and enjoy the amazing company in this room! Stay as long as you want to!

Also in just a moment, I am going to call up a couple of our young people to share a brief word with you, but before I do, let me honour those of you that might be a little new to the MY Canada Association by giving you a quick introduction to who we are and why we are here this week. For those of you that are familiar with us – we are so excited to bring a good report to you regarding the growth and effectiveness of the organization since our last Parliamentary Reception, a year ago. Many of you have been a deep encouragement to us as you have given us advice and coaching about how we, as young Canadians, can apply ourselves in helping to shape Canada for future generations. As the director of MY Canada I want to say that in SO many ways, the good report I am about to bring is in honour of you and your great input!

The MY Canada Association began in 2005 when a group of young adults from Vancouver received a deep conviction that it was time for a non-partisan voice to begin to emerge from the young generation in Canada and engage in meaningful dialogue with our national leaders. Canada had the young Liberals and the young Conservatives, young new democrats but what about simply the YOUNG CANADIANS who were willing to work with every party and who were passionate to see Canada strong for generations to come? At this same time, there were several voices both in national media and voices coming from this very Hill who would say blanket statements like, “The youth of the nation believe this, or young Canadians believe that…” Often these blanket statements were very socially liberal, at times extremist and very digressive from the founding principles that have made Canada great in so many ways. Without getting into all the semantics of these statements and their ideologies we simply felt that more often than not these blanket statements made of the next generation did not represent us. At the same time we realized that we were not doing our job! If this was the perception of young Canadians, we must not have been engaging in the awesome system of democracy in an effective way. We were not ‘showing up’ and that needed to change. I think we would all agree that with the lowest voter turn out in recent Canadian history just occurring in this past election, there is a need for young Canadians to SHOW UP. So off we went, and here we still are.

In 3 short years the MYCanada Association has grown to a membership and on-line network size of 30,000 with a strong internet presence. Along with this we have established a house office here in Ottawa where young adults can come for a 3 month internship to learn how they can be effective forces for positive change in Canada on a variety of fronts. Some of these young people have gotten so hooked that they have become long termers. We currently have 5 full time workers who have decided to dedicate this season of their life to the work of MY Canada.

Over this past year our leadership has traveled from coast to coast speaking and motivating Canadians in a variety of forums. We have personally hosted 5 events (a conference and 4 rallies) which, we realized just last night have had an accumulative attendance of over 11,000 people. These events have stretched across the nation we have hosted them in St. Hubert (Quebec), Nunavut (Iqaluit), Edmonton, Toronto and Saint John’s NB. We are excited to say that we are also ramping up for a very big year in 09 with perhaps our largest events yet coming in St. John’s and Vancouver.

Along with this, we mobilized, enthusiastically into elections all across Canada. We are so happy to see the SMILING faces of many MPs that we helped get elected in this reception tonight. It was our joy, privilege and honour and we are so glad to see your faces on this Hill. We had a lot of fun knocking on your doors, especially when people would change their vote simply because they said we were young and good looking – we’ll take it for ya!

Finally, a major and growing emphasis of the organization this past year has been media. As director of MY Canada I have been on national television at least once a week bringing a report from Parliament Hill to our viewership and beyond. Along with this we have been on several national talk shows – one of our favourite being a special feature with Radio Canada in Quebec. We are hooked on the camera – just some of you (admit it). Along with broadcasting media, our young people are watching national papers ever day and writing multiple op-eds a week under their own names. You are likely reading our words much more often than you realize.

We are growing every week and loving ever minute of it! Our nation is great and it is great to be able to contribute to her building in these and other ways. We count it a privilege and an honour to be right here, right now. We also want to say that we are committed. We are committed to working in any and every way that we can to support you as you bring forth legislation on issues that we are excited about.

A big hats off to Chris Warkentin for getting his Crystal-Meth bill passed, to Ed Fast for his internet pornography bill, to Joy Smith for her tireless work regarding human trafficking and the recent success of her motion at the Conservative Policy Convention (we can’t wait to see what comes out of that!), to Ken Epp for trumpeting women’s rights and protecting pregnant women through his work on the Unborn Victims of Crime Bill (WE LOVE IT and were so excited when this resolution passed at the Conservative Policy Convention a couple weeks ago), hats off for John McKay for his poverty bill that received royal assent, for the many AMAZING MPs that spoke out on behalf of Canadians opposing the controversial appointment to Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada, for Members from every party that supported raising the age of Sexual Protection. In our language we want to say, YOU GUYS ROCK!

It was a joy to work along side of you, speaking to committees and lobbying MPs to see these pieces passed. My first of 2 messages to you tonight is that we want to remind you that we are COMMITTED, I will repeat, COMMITTED to bringing our time, voice, network, technical ability, graphic design ability and whatever we can to the table to support other amazing legislation like this that you will undoubtly bring forth in the 40th Parliament. As we have said in previous years, we will say it again, “We are here and we are here to stay.” This is our Canada and we are taking responsibility for her. We truly want to see her strong for generations to come and we are committed to walking shoulder to shoulder encouraging our Parliamentarians as you seek to do the same. Our goal will either be to build our names and our organizations or our nations – I know, as I look around this room, that it is truly full of nation builders.

By the way (we will put in this plug) if you are looking for admiistraative staff, we do have a roster of amazing young people who have told us that they would be humbled by an opportunity to work in a Member’s office. If you are in a jam, feel free to let us know and we will get some great young people to contact you. Our heart is to serve. We know that as you are strenthened, in every way (which clearly includes good staff around you), Canada will be stronger – and if you have not caught on, we are all about that!

As the MYCanada director my second and last message to you is this: PLEASE, for the sake of this nation and future generations stand strong for the things that matter – family, safety, life, health and stewarding our great nation’s natural resources nation well. Continue to be men and women of courage. Canada needs it. Young people are hungering for it. Many of you have touched, trumpeted and prevailed against the injustices of our day but there is much left to do. To draw just one illustratiuon – the fact that Canada is the ONLY Western nation that has no laws on life for the unborn, in our assessment, is not a tribute to our progress but cowardice.

We have noticed, in the history books, there are really only 2 sets of names you read about: the outstandingly evil and the outstandingly, courageous, principled. Those who had no cause and lived lives of apathy and timidity are rarely remembered and rarely mentioned. We believe, in many ways, we are in a window of time where Canada is calling for men and women of fervent passion to rise with a cause beyond our pocketbooks.

William Wilberforce said once, ““If to be feelingly alive to the sufferings of my fellow-creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large.”

Where are the Wilberforces of our nation and of our time? The ones that will work for a cause of righteousness, mercy or justice until it is the standard in society.

Be men and women of courage.
Do the right thing – if you don’t know what the right thing is, ask us and we will give you our perspective on a variety of issues.
Be the solution, be the righteous instigators of our time.
Stare evil in the face and say, “Not in my Canada.”
Don’t hold back.
You have been given the keys to this nation, in this moment of time.
Your timidity, excuses, or apathy, could cost future generations everything.
Your courage could deliver masses.

Why am I being so forthright? It is because I can feel the DNA of history shapers in the room who have the power to move mountains with words.

Mr. Trudeau – may I be so bold as to say, Justin, your name means Justice. How interesting that a young man with this name would be given the favour of tabling the first Private Member’s Bill. As you consider what to bring forward, our hope is that it would set standard of true and pure justice. Make the wrong things right. If you need some ideas of what to bring forward, we have a few and would love to share them with you. We are looking forward to the first chance we get to sit and share, heart to heart, with you and other new faces to the house.

Beloved Parliamentarians, Divine Providence has ordained that the well being of Canadians has been entrusted to you. The decisions you make will mentor, shape and in so many ways set the climate of this nation. Look in our eyes, listen to our voices, remember our faces – in them see the faces of your children and grandchildren.

For their sake and ours, leave this nation, better than you found it. We believe, we honour you, we appreciat you and want to say again that our hope is that togethere we will build a strong Canada for generations to come.

On that note, I would like to call up a couple of our young people to share their dream for this awesome nation they will inherit.

On Sunday, The Right Honourable Stephen Harper requested from the Goveror General that the 39th Parliament be dissolved and Canada would enter into Its 40th Election - the third in four years.  this is the perfect oppertunity for the church to rise up and vote for righteousness, life and morality issues.  Much was accomplished over the last two years through the minority Conservative government - i.e. raising the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16, clear support fro Israel from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and the apology for Residencial Schools to the First Nations peoples of Canada, but much more still needs to be accomplished.  We need a government that will bring in legislation that would protect pregnant woman and their unborn children from violence, ensuring religious and free speech rights are not overturned by out of control Human Rights Commissions and the protection of our most vulnerable of citizens - unborn children in the womb. 

Voting is an important tool that we as Christians have been given to help guild, steward and disciple our nation in righteousness and justice.  We have a responsibility to not only pray but to show up on October 14th and vote for a righteous government.  I encourage you to find out about the candidates in your area, what their policies and platforms are on key moral issues facing our nation and the world today.  When you find a good candidate help them on their campaigns, gather your friends and family and encourage them to do the same thing, do your part to ensure that the 40th Parliament has seats filled with men and women who will stand for righteousness, justice and life.  One of my favorite quotes from Faytene is "The greatest act of intercession was not a prayer but an action" Do your part in intercession and act.  

Hello blogging world!

My name is Tamara Crampton, and I have been an intern with Faytene since January 19th 2006. However, it is now my time to leave our nations capital and move to Edmonton. As my time in Ottawa comes to a close, I have been thinking of all the things that I have learnt and experienced as an intern.

Before moving to Ottawa, i had no grid for politics, did care about politics, probably couldnt have told you who was the Prime Minister let alone who my member of parliament was. Then God ransomed my heart for the nation at TheCRY 2006 and I knew that I had to do something more. So i moved to the heart of the nation (Ottawa) where I was changed for ever!

Some of my favorite stories from my time as an itern:

One day, I had this urge to go to McDonalds (which is not something i normally crave) but I had a feeling we should go. So we pull in and initally i wanted to go through the drive through but had a feeling we should go inside, so we go inside and there are all these men in suits and little walkie talkie things in their ears. We were both super crious as to what was going on, and we were just chatting to each other and the guy in front of us says, "The Prime Minister is here". Ashley and I were shocked when from around the corner comes, yes the Prime Minister. So Ashley and I sat down near the PM and prayed for him from our booth. So funny!


What I have picked up as an intern:

One of the things that I picked up interning here was that members of parliament are just men and women who are simply doing their job. I came to a realization that so many (myself included) just bashed these men and women not having an understanding that if we are not speaking they only hear one side of the story and their job is to represent the people and so if only one side is speaking they are going to represent what they are hearing. I began to have a huge appreciation for the nations leaders. I also realized there are many who have a heart for God and are doing their best to see God come to Canada.

I also began to see that being a voice in the nation isnt all that hard, all you have to do really is show up. Some of my favorite times are being on Josiah teams. For those who dont know a Josiah team is when we have young men and women from all over Canada come to Ottawa and we meet with MP's and Senator's to talk to them about the issues we feel are affecting us in the nation. Its amazing to sit with the people that are shaping and changing our nation everyday and we get to share with them the issues on our heart. It's tangible changing the nation stuff and I love it. I love it because you dont have to be a genius or even know a lot about politics (if you know me you would know that I am not much of a political kid) but you just have to have a heart for Canada and our generation and you are set!

I am going to miss this beautiful city and the fact that I can see the Peace Tower whenever want, but I am excited to see what God is going to do with my life in the future. I just want to say thank you to everyone who has stood with me in the past season of my life. Who knows what the future holds only God and thank the Lord he knows and I dont.

Tamara Crampton

Don't Be Fooled: The Truth Behind Bill C-543

Most of you reading this are probably aware of Bill C-484, the Unborn Victims of Crime Act (if not, see blog post below). However, you may not be aware of Bill C-543, a bill which claims to be a better, "less controversial" alternative to C-484. Don't be fooled, you savvy reader, and here's why:

- Bill C-543, brought forward by Liberal MP Brent St. Denis, is simply a counter-bill made solely for the purpose of detracting support from Bill C-484.

- To understand Bill C-543, let's look at Canada’s legal system. When sentencing, judges are permitted to consider “aggravating circumstances”. These are facts or situations that a judge thinks should make the offender more guilty, and therefore deserve a longer sentence.

- All Bill C-543 does is specify that pregnancy can be used as an aggravating factor. However, pregnancy can already be used as an aggravating factor. So basically this brings ZERO change to the legal system. Absolutely nothing new. So why does Bill C-543 even bother?

- Basically, those who oppose Bill C-484 believe that it will recriminalize abortion by making the fetus a "person". This is not true at all. They also believe that the bill will be used against pregnant women. This is false; the goal of the bill is to protect pregnant women. So, all C-484's opponents want to do is bring down the bill, which is the purpose of Bill C-543.

- If that's not enough, you should know that Mr. St. Denis has already introduced a Private Members Bill this Parliament. Basically, that means that Bill C-543 cannot come up for debate in this current government (or Parliament), so it has no chance of being passed.

In summary, don't be deceived into thinking both bills do the same thing. Bill C-543 does nothing new to protect women's rights, whereas Bill C-484 is making real progress. Lets not halt progress; lets expose the truth behind Bill C-543.

You can:

- Write letters to the editor; you would think that Bill C-543 would be easily exposed, but no one has pointed out its obvious flaws.

- Tell everyone you know about this, so that they don't support Bill C-543 without knowing its true and deceptive purpose.

Thanks so much for responding to this call to action. You are being a righteous nation changer.

- Jonathan -

Bill C-484 by Sarah

Just a quick note to let everyone know what's new with Bill C-484 (The Unborn Victims of Crime Act). For anyone who hasn't heard, Bill C-484 is a Private Member's Bill sponsored by Ken Epp, and it passed second reading on March 5, 2008. It would amend the Criminal Code by creating a new offense, so that anyone who attacks a pregnant woman and kills or injures her unborn child would be charged not only with an offense against the woman, but an offense against the unborn child. THIS IS HUGE. And, it's just common sense.

If I was pregnant, having baby showers and decorating a nursery, picking out baby names and putting money aside for diapers and baby clothes, and on the way to my car late at night some person jumped me with a knife and stabbed my stomach and killed my baby, I would be horrified to find out that s/he couldn't be charged with taking my baby away from me.

But, right now, in Canada, the only charge that could be laid would be aggravated assault. At least 15 pregnant women have made the headlines for being severely attacked since 2004, and only 2 of those women survived. One of them was stabbed multiple times with a sword in the stomach; she survived but her baby did not. The person who did it was only charged with assault. Another woman was beaten to death for refusing to have an abortion. This is a very real situation.

We already instinctively know that a woman who is expecting considers her unborn child to be extremely valuable. And yet, we don't reflect that in the law, because babies are invisible until they are born alive. To me, that's ridiculous. They aren't invisible in the natural; everyone knows when a woman is getting ready to birth and you can't tell that woman that she's not carrying a life inside of her. But the law does all the time.

Needless to say, I became very excited about Ken Epp's bill after I recovered from my shock that this was not already law. The bill doesn't attempt to make unborn children recognizable persons under the law (that would outlaw abortion because you can't kill people; hence C-484 creates an entirely new offense instead of adding unborn children to the list of homicide victims) but it would be the first bill that gives any protection to unborn children in the past 20 years.

The bill is currently in the Justice Committee awaiting debate and then third reading. As part of a campaign to ask Members of Parliament to support this bill, we have postcards on our website that can be downloaded and printed to mail to your MP.

We also have a 3 minute informational video plus mini-poster that is available for churches or other groups to promote awareness on Bill C-484.

AND, there is an on-line petition that is collecting signatures in support of Bill C-484, to be presented to Ken Epp in the fall. Please sign it! Unofficial polls cannot be tabled in Parliament, but they can actually have more influence, especially when they get media coverage.

Go here to sign the petition:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BillC484/signatures.html

Hey everyone!

There is something that has been burning on my heart the last couple of weeks , and I thought I would share my thoughts with you! If you were unaware, Faytene is hosting a massive prayer event on Parliament Hill this August 23rd and I think that everyone in Canada should attend!! Not should attend, must attend!

The reason I say this is because, I feel, we are in one of the most crucial times this nation has ever seen. James Goll recently released a prophetic word that we are in a three year window of mercy and if we seize this moment, it will shift us into a 10 year window of mercy.

We know that prayer is one of the most effective tools we have and we know that prayer changes and shifts atmosphere's and nations. Many times throughout the bible God used men and women has intercessors to shift the impending doom upon their people and their nation. What if Esther said to herself, well someone else can do this, I don't think I am called to this. If she did this, a whole nation, a whole people group would have been wiped off the planet. What if God is calling you to come to TheCRY and your one prayer, your one voice was the one that would shift things and abortion would see the end of its days.

I continueally think of "Horton Hears A Who" by Dr.Zusus where little jojo who was playing with his yoyo was the only one not speaking up, and yet he was the one who let out one "yelp" that saved his entire community from being destroyed. We need to be like the sons of Issachar who know the times and the seasons, and we are in a season of mass prayer and fasting that will shift nations.



I want to share with you what I felt back in 2006 when TheCRY was being held. I was living in BC at the time, and i was 21 years old and an intern at my church when I heard about TheCRY and something rose in my spirit that said I had to be in Ottawa for this event. I didnt know why but I couldn't drop the feeling that I had to be there. So I asked everyone in my church if they wanted to come with me and no one wanted to come with me. So eventually, my youth pastor and I joined another church from Chilliwack BC and we headed out to TheCRY. I always had a love for Canada, and I always loved prayer, but after TheCRY things inside of me shifted and I have never been the same since that day.

So this is it, if you love your nation, if you love this generation, if you just love Jesus, you need to be at TheCRY! Money is not a limit, time is not a limit, the only limit is how much you want to see this nation change. Join us on August
23rd in Jacques Cartier Parc/Parliament Hill for a history making, nation shaking good time.

- Tamara Crampton

What is Operation MOCO? by Sarah

With the exception of people who may have been out of the country for the past month, most Canadians are aware that Henry Morgentaler was awarded with the Order of Canada on July 1st, 2008 (Canada Day). The Order of Canada is the highest honour that a civilian can get in Canada- so basically, if you are made a Member of the Order, Canada is giving you a huge stamp of approval for the things you have contributed to culture or society in Canada.

If you don't know who Morgentaler is, let me briefly explain what all the fuss is about. Back in the 1960s, Morgentaler was thrown in jail for performing illegal abortions. His case went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the judges there found that a certain section of the Criminal Code that required women to have a panel of doctors approve their abortion was unconstitutional and it was struck down. The Supreme Court then told Parliament that they were responsible for creating a new CONSTITUIONAL law restricting abortions.

The problem was, Parliament never did it.

And so, by an unfortunate accident, and by breaking the law, Morgentaler got all restrictions taken off of abortions.

This means a 12 year old girl can get an abortion without her parent's knowing, and without anyone explaining to her what an abortion is, or what it could possibly do to her (make her suicidal, depressed, have nightmares, make her infertile, cause cancer, etc.) It is ridiculous to think that a girl who is not allowed to vote, drink, drive, consent to sexual activity or get a body piercing or tattoo can make an informed "choice" about abortion. She can't even go on a FIELD TRIP without her parent's consent.

Nonetheless, for some reason this accident in the judicial process has been credited to Morgentaler as a "life time contribution to health care and women's rights" and he will be presented with the Order in the next coming months if the Governor General does not change her mind and revoke the decision to award him.

Not only that, but the Nomination Committee had to break a bunch of rules to award him. First, they went to democratic vote instead of unanimous consent to silence the voices in their committee who were opposed to honouring a mass murderer. Second, they considered him when they previously rejected other nominees such as Margaret Somerville for being "too controversial" because of her conservative views on same-sex marriage. Third, when word had gotten out in the spring of 2008 that they might be considering his nomination there was such an outcry from Canada that there was an announcement from the Governor General's office that he was not and would not be on the nomination list. Basically, they lied.

And so 4MY Canada has launched Operation MOCO; Morgentaler Order of Canada Outcry. Last week the LARGEST touchtone telephone poll in the HISTORY OF CANADA found that 56% of Canadians do NOT agree with Morgentaler's Order of Canada.

The game plan for Operation MOCO is to write, call, email, or send a postcard every other day to the Nomination Committee, the Governor General, the Prime Minister, and your Member of Parliament UNTIL the Order is revoked. Visit 4mycanada.ca/MOCO.html to find the contact information for the MOCO target list.

Since the beginning of July, 9 Members of the Order of Canada have returned their Order in protest. This has NEVER happened in the history of the Order. No one has ever returned their order voluntarily. And for the first time in decades, the abortion debate is back on the table in Canada... even making the cover of Maclean's magazine.

Now is the time to make your voice heard! The abortion debate is now open and if we seize this moment with persistence, we WILL see abortion laws changed in Canada. 60% of Canadians want restrictions on abortion, and 56% of Canadians do not think Morgentaler is a hero.

We actually are a majority. It's time to let Parliament know it.

Annnnd... exciting news! MOCO is on facebook and is over 15,500 members! Come find us :) Search "Oppose Morgentaler's Order of Canada" and stay up-to-date on Operation MOCO and other initiatives that are raising a voice against Morgentaler's Order.

Hey,

I'm Jonathan, another one of the new interns this summer. If you are here reading this, good job! It means that you are actively involved in getting informed and changing the nation. That's awesome, and I encourage you to keep up to date with all the MyCanada initiatives, such as Operation M.O.C.O, the postcard campaigns, and talking to your local MPs about some of the bills and issues that concern you. Tell all your friends, the more people involved, the better.

I think that it is so easy to not do anything, especially when the summer ends and life gets back to normal. But it is so great that you are on here, right now, getting involved. Think about the current state of our world today. Cool? Not really. But we could change all of society's junk. Seriously. Think about what would happen if everyone who cared about injustice and about all the filth that's around us today took a stand and did something. We would literally change the nation. You wanna see change? Make it happen. Get together with people you know, and get involved in some way. Definitely attend The CRY, for starters. But don't just whine about how hard life can be in this society, how hard it is to stay pure, complain about endless problems, etc. It can always be like that, or, through a generation which takes a stand, it can never be like that again!

Bless you guys and thanks for your prayers,

Jonathan

Hey There,

My name is Amy and I am a 4 My Canada intern. It is awesome to be here, and I am learning how important it is to pay attention to what is happening in our Government. I must admit I never really paid to much attention to the Government before.

I would like to encourage anyone that hasn't paid much attention to our Government because they didn't understand or see the importance of it to visit our website www.4mycanada.com. Get informed with what is happening in our country. If there is something that is happening in Canada, a certain bill that sparks some fire in you, do something with that. All the information is on the website on how you can have a voice. Let's not take our democracy for granted, use the voice that you have been given.

If we all work together Canada can continue to be the Best Canada it can be!!

Amy

Hi there. My name is Sven, and I am a MY Canada intern.

As a 21 year old young man, I feel that I carry the voice and the heart of the young men of Canada. I want to express simply, that as young men, we do have a say on the issue of abortion in Canada. I also want to say, that we do care about this issue, even though it seems like guys up until this point, have stood in the shadows of the Life Issue. The Issue of Life is no longer a Women's issue.

I would like to encourage all the men, young and old alike, to actively and practically get involved with this issue, that is by no means dead. I feel that this fight for Life will not be won, unless or until men step up and take their STAND.

Honorable Women of Canada, please forgive us.

As you can see from the dates on the posts below, we have not kept this blog super active. (This is because we send most of our updates out through our mass eblasts, see http://4mycanada.ca/E-mailArchive.html for the archives.) But, GOOD NEWS, we are going to make this blog active again throughout the rest of this summer!

This is our awesome summer team. Faytene (Picture Above: red-T on the bottom left) and the six interns that have joined us. They are amazing and so we have asked them to post some 'thoughts' on this blog throughout the rest of the summer. Stay tuned to hear, from their perspective, what is happening in the capital of Canada and throughout the nation.