More Youth Than Ever Coming to National
March For Life in Ottawa May 11-12
465 students registered for youth
conference, almost 900 tickets sold for Rose Dinner
By Steve Jalsevac
OTTAWA, May 1, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The
ninth annual National March for Life in Ottawa this year is looking to be the
best attended yet with increasing numbers of youth coming who will be certain to
further boost the dynamism of the annual event.
Organizers report that the Thursday Rose
dinner with dynamic keynote speaker Fr. Frank Pavone of Priests for Life has
sold 850 tickets so far – far exceeding previous Rose dinners. As well, 465
youth have registered to date for the Friday March for Life Youth Conference,
also considerably exceeding previous years’ attendance.
Organizers had quite a fright last week as the
Ottawa Congress Centre, which was to host the Rose Dinner, cancelled their
contract with the March for Life because of a continuing strike by Congress
Centre staff.
After intense scrambling, perfected last year
when at the last minute Montreal’s St. Joseph’s Oratory also cancelled a
contract to host the National Pro-Life Conference, March for Life organizers
arranged what they consider an excellent substitute venue at the Crown Plaza
Hotel in downtown Ottawa.
Campaign Life Coalition president Jim Hughes
reports that Ambrose Atkins has done a wonderful job in attempting to replace
“the irreplaceable Frank Mountain” who, confined to a wheelchair for many years,
managed to be the catalyst for the whole march the past eight years. Hughes says
that “Ambrose has filled in admirably for the irreplaceable Frank”.
Mountain has endured a serious health setback
in recent months. He appears to be on the road to recovery but is expected to
spend at least another month in hospital after additional surgery this week.
Hughes also reports that despite Campaign Life
Coalition’s best efforts, a series of communications about the march appears not
to have gotten through staff to many pro-life MPs this year. He recently
discovered that many of the MPs, whom the March for Life is organized to support
and encourage, were still not aware of the march activities.
Campaign Life Coalition is encouraging
pro-life Canadians across the country to immediately call their Members of
Parliament who they know to be pro-life minded and encourage them to be present
on the Hill for the march kick-off and at the Rose Dinner that evening. As well,
Hughes reminds those attending the march to arrange in advance to meet their MPs
in Ottawa, pro-life or not, to encourage them to support legislation to protect
the right to life from conception to natural death.
See the March for Life page on LifeSite
www.lifesite.net/events/Marchforlife/2006/index.html.
2006
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