Statement from LifeCanada on the MasterCard Program

LifeCanada regrets the decision by the Bank of Montreal not to renew our affinity card program at the end of July 2006.

A small group of abortion advocates with ties to key media people launched a smear campaign against LifeCanada. The media did not report news in this case. (The affinity program with a pro-life group has existed for 15 years.) They created a story and colluded with our opponents to restrict our ability to raise money and present our message.

This campaign began with a series of emails circulating among a group of what appear to be radical abortion advocates. We take some comfort from the fact that perhaps the reason for this campaign is that LifeCanada has been doing some very effective work over the past three years.

Our public opinion polls on Canadians’ views on abortion have enlightened many about what Canadians think about abortion. They are not “pro-choice.” Even though not one English Canadian media outlet has ever reported the results of our polls, the information has cropped up in various columns, newsletters and on the internet over the past three years.

Our full-page ad in the National Post last year must have outraged a few abortion advocates. It focused on abortion statistics and the fact that taxpayers are forced to pay for them whether they agree or not. That one ad elicited over 2,000 responses from Canadians who disagree with this policy.

Just a couple of weeks before this smear campaign began, we gave all 308 MPs copies of the book, “Women’s HealthAfter Abortion,” which documents the over 500 studies which look at the complications and side effects of abortion on women.

Did that provoke this campaign? Who knows? Certainly, none of the media reported what sparked the boycott 15 years after the program started.

It certainly wasn’t diligent reporting about controversial programs sponsored by Canadian businesses. There has been a boycott against the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for weeks now over their aggressive support and promotion of homosexual marriage and gay pride events. CIBC’s Chairman, John Hunkin, is very open and voluble about his bank’s determination to advance this cause. And yet, even though a majority of Canadians oppose attempts to redefine marriage and to promote acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, no one in the media thinks that the CIBC boycott is a story worth reporting.

Similarly, Canada’s largest bookstore chain, Chapters Indigo, has an affinity-type program with Planned Parenthood. This group is an aggressive advocate of abortion and explicit sex information for teens and children. It gets funding from every level of government, has a charitable tax number and sponsors what many people consider to be offensive programs. Again, where are Canada’s objective journalists? Why no interviews with Canadians offended by Chapters Indigo for supporting this anti-life organization?

Again, we are disappointed that BMO has taken this decision.

But, from LifeCanada’s perspective, the villains in this situation are the bullies who began the campaign and the Canadian media, which supported and abetted them.

Our financial situation will be affected by this decision. The bullies will have won unless pro-life Canadians decide otherwise.

Our financial stability depended to some extent on this program. That left us vulnerable to assault, and dependent on an organization that was not supporting our goals and values.

If pro-life Canadians truly support our goals and principles, they need to ensure that we have the financial means to carry them out. Right now we do not. We appreciate all the cardholders who have been supporting us, some for many years. We hope that now that this program is coming to an end, those people will continue to support us financially by donating directly to LifeCanada, perhaps through our monthly debit program or our Partners for Life initiative.

The challenge, of course, is that the card was a relatively painless way to support LifeCanada. We earned money when you shopped. We have no charitable tax number so we cannot issue receipts for tax purposes. Your donations to us will have to come straight from your wallet and, probably more importantly, your heart. If they do, our financial stability will be secured by people who believe in our cause and are not afraid of the media.

We are not prepared to cave in to these bullies. We will continue to do our job and work to promote the dignity and sanctity of all human life. We hope you will be there with us and will ensure that we have the financial support we need to do the job.

Joanne Byfield, President
LifeCanada/viecanada