The Editor,
It was with great excitement that I looked forward to attending the Steveston Salmon Festival on July 1, along with my partner and our many children.
Knowing that, with corporate sponsorship, numerous non-profit organizations would benefit, I could think of no better way to celebrate Canada Day.
You can imagine my disappointment to discover that the Right To Life organization was part of this community parade and appeared to have a long-standing association with the Salmon Festival.
In case the organizers of the Salmon Festival are unaware, the Right To Life Society (citation 1) is little more than an evangelical Christian-oriented anti-abortion group.
That the venerable Salmon Festival has become a forum to promote their right wing political views is in stark contrast with what one expects to find from a community event of this nature.
The grandiose nature of their float notwithstanding, many of us in the community find their loud Christian worship music and their religious-moral viewpoint deeply offensive (and arguably extremist.)
The Supreme Court of Canada, in a landmark 1988 decision ruled that in accordance with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Section 7 (citation 3) this individual freedom should not be interfered with, specifically with regards to abortion.
As a Canadian citizen I find it offensive that an outdated moral view that contravenes the charter on a matter that women have struggled to obtain freedom for, is given sanctioned publicity and recruitment opportunities through an event, simply because the organization has formed a legal entity as a registered society.
Religious groups that were part of the parade were handing out invitations to children to attend a "fun event" and then stopping to spent time trying to convince children (mine included) as to why their parents should allow them to attend their recruitment drive.
Is this what one should expect as a captive audience at a parade?
A flag, a stick-on tattoo, a treat, sticker or even a spray of water from the fire engine seems more appropriate than a thinly disguised solicitation aimed at children.
Can the Steveston Salmon Festival (please note the name is the Salmon Festival and not the Sunday School Festival) find its way to being a representative community parade or will history view this as the point at which special interest groups, with religiously inspired moral viewpoints, permanently hijacked this once-respected event?
Peter Holgate
Richmond
