OTTAWA — People who think poverty is an election issue are getting their chance with a five party debate in Ottawa Oct. 6.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Wall Street crisis is a story of how the privileged few took advantage of the middle class and the poor, and how the U.S. government failed its citizens, said anti-globalization activist Naomi Klein on the day the Bush administration’s $700-billion bailout plan failed to pass in Congress.

The U.S. House of Representatives could not agree on the plan, resulting in the bill’s failure on Sept. 29.

{mosimage}TORONTO - The Make Poverty History coalition of more than 1,000 individuals, churches, unions and organizations complains that the Conservative Party is missing in action on poverty issues.

Make Poverty History managed to get four of the five national party leaders to answer specific questions on poverty reduction leading up to the Oct. 14 federal election. The video of those interviews is available at www.makepovertyhistory.ca/ontherecord .

{mosimage}OTTAWA - Though they decided to appeal to the Supreme Court a month ago, the Canadian Council for Refugees , Canadian Council of Churches and Amnesty International made it official in their battle against the Safe Third Country agreement with the United States.

On Sept. 26 the refugee advocate organizations filed an application with Canada’s highest court seeking one more chance to strike down the agreement.

{mosimage}TORONTO - Filipino-Canadian Rafael Nebres remembers when the late-September procession on Lake Ontario in honour of Our Lady of Penafrancia started as a small prayer group gathering in his home 36 years ago.

This year on Sept. 20, six yachts, one carrying a statue of Our Lady of Penafrancia, the patron saint of the Bicol region where Nebres is originally from, sailed on Lake Ontario from Bluffers Park in Scarborough.

{mosimage}TORONTO  - Sarah Palin isn’t exactly the role model that American feminists were hoping for.

But she could be the face of a re-branded form of feminism, says a former Alberta journalist.

Pro-life activist and former Western Standard magazine reporter Andrea Mrozek said Palin’s nomination as Republican John McCain’s vice-presidential running mate in the upcoming American election indicates an increasing momentum for the pro-life movement being seen as a pro-feminist or pro-woman movement.

They've spoken out on the environment, war and peace, poverty and the economy. Christian organizations have been quick and loud in their opinions on what should be done to make Canada a better country. And now there is a pro-life coalition offering its own advice for voters as we approach the Oct. 14 federal election.

Pro-lifers across the country pull their hair out in chunks every time they hear the dire warnings that Prime Minister Stephen Harper harbours a secret agenda to recriminalize abortion. They know full well he has been the biggest disappointment on that front since the Supreme Court overturned Canada's abortion law in 1988.

Catholic voters keep being told they should read the political parties' platforms before making their decision on Oct. 14. Well, they are now available, so happy reading.

{mosimage}TORONTO - With 97 Canadian soldiers dead and many more injured, a record year for attacks on development workers and mounting evidence that NATO is losing the war in Afghanistan some might have expected the war to be a major issue in the Canadian election campaign.

"It's not an issue because the Liberals gave the issue away when they voted for the Conservative extension to 2011, so there's no difference really between the Conservative and the Liberal position on this," said left-leaning Rideau Institute defence analyst Stephen Staples.