Dennis Gruending

Dennis Gruending is an Ottawa-based author and former Member of Parliament. He is also a former director of information for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. His books include the biography, Emmett Hall: Establishment Radical and his latest book is Pulpit and Politics: Competing Religious Ideologies in Canadian Public Life, recently released by Kingsley Publishing Services of Calgary. His blog can be found linked below.

Website: http://www.dennisgruending.ca/pulpitandpolitics/

Catholics and trade unions

Jul 092013

Faith speaks

New Ottawa Catholic school board speaker guidelines omit 'dignity of work'.

by Dennis Gruending

In Ottawa recently a group of Catholic parents protested to their school board over Justin Trudeau’s appearance in November 2012 to talk to students at a Catholic school about bullying. Some parents told the board this was a “scandal” because Trudeau supports same-sex marriage and a woman’s right to choose. According to slides from their presentation, a group of parents called upon the school board to prevent appearances by anyone advocating “ideas that are contrary to the social and moral teachings of the Catholic Church.”

New ‘Proud to Protect Refugees’ groups forming

May 122013

Canadian politics

Volunteer groups organize to surmount new barriers to refugees finding safety in Canada.

by Dennis Gruending

In 2012, the federal government introduced changes that make it harder for refugees to reach Canada, and more difficult for them once they arrive. While church groups and others remain committed to welcoming refugees, they are finding that in a world with an estimated 15 million refugees and an average wait time of 17 years in the camps, they now have no one to welcome.

Judge orders Justice Department to pay whistleblower’s legal fees

Apr 222013

Canadian politics

Edgar Schmidt gets financial help with one lawsuit but not on the legal efforts to win his job back.

by Dennis Gruending

Edgar Schmidt is a senior lawyer in the federal Department of Justice in Ottawa who launched a highly unusual court case against his employer. Schmidt believes that his department is failing to provide advice to law makers that would protect Canadians against Parliament creating laws and regulations that infringe upon their Charter and civil rights. He is paying a price for his principled stand in blowing the whistle. Schmidt told Global TV in a recent interview that, “The day after I filed the claim [in December 2012], I was called at home and told not to show up at work on Monday and that I was suspended without pay.” The Justice Department also stopped contributions toward his pension.

RCMP spied on Tommy Douglas

Apr 082013

Features

A single allegation of a Communist connection kept RCMP dogging Douglas from 1939 until he died.

by Dennis Gruending

The RCMP security service spied on Tommy Douglas, the former Saskatchewan premier and federal NDP leader, from the 1930s until shortly before his death the 1980s. We know this only because Jim Bronskill, an Ottawa-based Canadian Press journalist, has battled with the federal government and its agencies since 2005 to make public Library and Archives Canada's files on Douglas.

Pope Francis was silent in dangerous times

Mar 182013

Faith speaks

Jorge Bergoglio ducked during bloodthirsty junta; Oscar Romero spoke out and died.

by Dennis Gruending

Pope Francis has completed his first days in office. Much has been made of his frugal lifestyle, his apparent simplicity and his sense of humour. Those are admirable traits and it is also refreshing to hear a religious leader talking about solidarity with the poor rather than the prosperity gospel preached by so many.

On the other hand, virtually every knowledgeable commentator cautions that we should not expect changes to the hierarchy’s conservative doctrinal positions on matters such as birth control, the ordination of women or of married men. While Francis may prove to be a humble man and a pastoral leader, the substance of the message likely will not change as much as the manner of its delivery.

Pope Benedict XVI as communicator

Mar 052013

Faith speaks

Papal infallibility has locked the Pope and the Church into archaic doctrines.

by Dennis Gruending

Pope Benedict XVI has left the scene. I want briefly to look at his performance as a communicator. A past anecdote may be instructive here, from the four years I worked in communications with the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in the early 1990s.

Harper’s foreign strategy revealed

Feb 112013

Canadian politics

CIDA praises Development and Peace, then buries it.

by Dennis Gruending

Rarely does a religiously-based publication break news. Most of them don’t have the staff or resources to do so. A recent exception occurred in The Catholic Register, the official publication of the Archdiocese of Toronto. In January 2013, the Register published an investigative story showing that when the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) drastically reduced its funding to the Catholic organization Development and Peace (D&P) in 2012, it did so despite high praise for the aid organization from within CIDA’s own bureaucracy.

Protecting rights in new laws

Jan 212013

Features

Lawyer sues federal government for omitting rights check from new legislation.

by Dennis Gruending

Edgar Schmidt, a senior lawyer in the federal Department of Justice, has taken a courageous and highly unusual step. He has launched a court case against his employer for what he believes is its failure to protect Canadians against Parliament creating laws and regulations that could infringe upon their human rights.

On the day after Schmidt filed his claim with the court in December 2012, the department suspended him without pay and barred him from his office. That harsh action, in turn, did not amuse the Federal Court judge hearing the case. “The court doesn’t like that,” said Mr Justice Simon Noel. “We see that in different countries and we don’t like it… Canada is still a democracy.”

John Baird’s Office of Religious Freedom

Jan 062013

Features

Board members say "Christians are the most persecuted religious group."

by Dennis Gruending

The Conservative government will soon announce an Office of Religious Freedom, fulfilling a promise made in the 2011 election campaign. tForeign Affairs Minister John Baird's stated intention is to create an organization that will monitor and criticize religious persecution and to promote religious freedom around the world.

Murray Thomson, peace activist at 90

Dec 172012

Faith speaks

Pacifist, Quaker, co-founder of Project Ploughshares, heads drive to abolish nuclear weapons.

by Dennis Gruending

If Murray Thomson wasn’t a pacifist you might call him a happy warrior. The moving force behind many worthy peace endeavours, he will soon turn 90.

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