Charles McVety
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Charles McVety is a Canadian evangelical Christian leader. He has been the current president of Canada Christian College in Toronto since 1993, and he is also the current president of Canada Family Action Coalition. He is perhaps best known for campaigning to repeal the law legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. According to the CBC, "Charles McVety is one of the most powerful leaders of the Christian Right in this country".
McVety is the son of Elmer S. McVety, also an evangelical leader and the founder of Canada Christian College. Charles McVety earned a B.A. and M.A. from Canada Christian College and was granted a D.Min. from California State Christian University and a D.Litt. from St. Petersburg State University, Russia.
He is the host of a national television program, Word.ca on CTS and the Miracle Channel. McVety is also the National Chairman of Christians United for Israel, a sister organization to its American counterpart led by John Hagee, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Benny Hinn.
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[edit] Campaign against same-sex marriage legislation
McVety is also Senior Director of the Defend Marriage Coalition, a lobby group seeking to repeal the Civil Marriage Act (also called Bill C-38), the 2005 federal law legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. In a November 2006 New York Times interview, he was quoted as saying that "With the legalization of gay marriage, faith has been violated and we've been forced to respond." [1]
On December 2, 2006, McVety indicated he welcomed Harper's signal to hold a vote on repealing the legislation on December 6. In a Globe and Mail article which described him as having "the ear of the Conservatives", he was quoted as saying that “We have made our case and we have contacted the Members of Parliament and we hope they will reopen the debate and study the impact [of same-sex marriage] on society..." On the question of having an immediate vote, he stated that "...the consensus, at the end of the day, was to restore the traditional definition of marriage or have no motion at all.” [2]
[edit] Influence over Harper Conservatives
A common theme of news coverage of McVety is his degree of his influence and those of his evangelical colleagues over Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative government generally. During the 2006 election, McVety bought up the rights to a number of websites with the names of Liberal candidates, such as "josephvolpe.com", and attempted to sway a number of Conservative nomination candidates in favour of evangelical candidates. After the Conservative victory, McVety and evangelical colleagues were asked by Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office to help popularize his child-care plan. [3]
In November 2006, former Conservative Garth Turner claimed that McVety had once boasted to him of his influence with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying "I can pick up the phone and call Harper and I can get him in two minutes." McVety flatly denied saying this, after which Turner firmly reiterated his claim. [4]
[edit] Memorable Quotations
"The Bible interprets itself."[5]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Mason, Christopher. "Gay marriage galvanizes Canada's religious right", New York Times, 18 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
- ^ Galloway, Gloria. "Ottawa to revisit same-sex marriage", Globe and Mail, 2 December 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
- ^ McDonald, Marci. "Stephen Harper and the Theo-cons", The Walrus, 5 December 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-05.
- ^ "Evangelist denies he has special access to the PM", Globe and Mail, 27 November 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-03.
- ^ The Big Picture with Avi Lewis discusses Richard Dawkins' documentary 'The Root of All Evil?' (Minute 26). Retrieved on February 6, 2007.
