The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace doesn't think the Canadian election is just about Canada. For the development arm of the Canadian bishops, this election is also about Canada's obligations to the rest of the world. Development and Peace executive director Michael Casey has sent this open letter to candidates and media outlets across the country:

{mosimage}The Canadian people woke up Oct. 15 to a new government that looks remarkably like the old government. They could be forgiven for scratching their heads and wondering what all the fuss was for.

As final polls were still being counted, it appeared that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservatives would once again form a minority government with 143 seats in the House of Commons — 12 short of a majority. They face a Liberal party with 76 seats, the Bloc Quebecois with 50, the New Democrats with 37 and two independents.

{mosimage}TORONTO - It was a bad month for just about all investors, but a little bit worse for ethical investors in September.

The Jantzi Social Index of 60 Canadian stocks chosen for their environmental, social and governance performance plummeted 15.3 per cent in September, compared with a 13.76-per-cent drop in the S&P/TSX 60 and a 14.45-per-cent slide in the S&P/TSX Composite.

{mosimage}MONTREAL - Close to three-quarters of Quebec parents want the right to choose between a secular Ethics and Religious Culture program and denominational religious instruction for their children, suggests a new poll.

The poll by Leger Marketing on behalf of the Catholic Parents Association of Quebec was released Oct. 28. It found that 72 per cent of those surveyed agreed that parents should have a choice between denominational religious instruction and the new non-denominational course all Quebec schools — public and private — are being told to provide for students.

{mosimage}MONTREAL - Bayard Canada has appointed Joseph Sinasac to the newly created position of Publishing Director for Novalis, Canada's leading publisher of religious books and resources.

Sinasac, currently Publisher and Editor of The Catholic Register, will oversee the English-language division of Novalis from its Toronto office, including editorial, sales and marketing departments.

{mosimage}TORONTO - In a protest against the award of the Order of Canada to abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler, a community of priests has returned its orders given to two well-known colleagues.

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate — Assumption Province announced Dec. 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, that they were returning the awards given to Frs. Anthony Sylla and Michael Smith.

{mosimage}MONTREAL - The Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace has turned to Newfoundland to find a new president of its national council.

Pat Hogan of St. John’s has been elected as the new president, according to a Dec. 16 news release from the organization’s head office in Montreal. At one-time a teacher in Zambia with CUSO, Hogan joined Development and Peace in 1996 and served as chair of the St. John’s diocesan council and as a member of the education committee prior to being elected to the national council in 2004.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Campus pro-life groups have gained an ally in their battle to be heard at universities across Canada.

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has urged student unions at universities and colleges to not deny club status to groups that oppose abortion. The association made its view known in a letter sent to student unions across Canada in late January.

{mosimage}As an investigation proceeds into Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace's funding policies, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops is urging Catholics to continue to give to the development and humanitarian assistance arm of the Canadian church.

In the first statement from the bishops since an Internet site accused the Development and Peace of funding "pro-abortion groups" in Mexico, conference president Archbishop James Weisgerber invoked Pope Benedict XVI's mission to Africa and the worldwide financial crisis as reasons to continue to give generously.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The ecumenical social justice coalition KAIROS claims the Conservative government has been less than honest with a delegation of Colombians who came to Canada to lobby against a free trade deal.

KAIROS sponsored a delegation of Colombian church and civil society leaders on a visit to Canada in February. The group received assurances Canada wouldn’t proceed with an already negotiated free trade agreement between Canada and Colombia until concerns about the South American nation’s human rights record have been investigated.