| International News

Facebook.com is the latest Internet phenomenon. The Web site that allows people to connect, join networks and start and join groups. Members can upload photos, music and videos. It helps them keep track of their friends. Facebook is exploding in Canada.

The CBC jumped on the bandwagon, sponsored the group and called on Canadians to post their wishes for Canada’s 140th birthday. It will announce the winning wish on July 1, Canada Day.

As of June 18, “Abolish Abortion in Canada” wish had more than 4,200 votes, with “I wish that Canada would remain pro-choice” in second place, almost 1,000 votes behind early in the day but steadily gaining until at filing time it was only 300 votes behind.

Dave Gilbert, a Wilfred Laurier University student launched the pro-life wish, to “redeem the humanity of the preborn child.”

“The term ‘foetus’ is from Latin and means ‘offspring’ or ‘young one,’ Gilbert wrote, introducing the wish. “It is a stage in development for the newly created human, just like toddler. Stages of development change, but we are always human.”

Gilbert’s wish’s soaring to top spot has been featured in some news stories, including one on CBC television news.

Meanwhile, both sides of the abortion debate are recruiting like mad to make sure their wish wins. On June 18, the pro-choice crowd added 700 votes to their cause, steadily gaining on the pro-life wish.

Pro-life Catholic blogger Suzanne Fortin of Ottawa has been mobilizing people to keep “Abolish Abortion” in top spot. She has been sending out emails and blogging up a storm to tell people how to join Facebook and how to register for the pro-life wish.

“Basically it’s to get more attention to a cause and to say there are lots of people who support legal protection for the unborn child,” said Fortin in an interview.

“Lots of people say it’s a dead issue, but for many Canadians obtaining rights for unborn children is a top issue,” she said.

Fortin reported that pro-choice blogs are recruiting people, including Americans, to join Facebook and vote for the pro-choice wish.

“If their cause is so popular why to they need Americans to support their wish?” she said. “I’ve made it very clear in every communication I only want Canadian’s joining.”

“As far as I know the vast majority of supporters of “Abolish Abortion in Canada” are Canadian, she said.

Fortin also has tried bump the pro-choice wish from second place by urging support for additional wishes such as “For a spiritual revival in our nation” and “Restore the Traditional Definition of Marriage,” socially conservative wishes that have remained in the top 10. Fortin is not alone in her efforts. She described the grassroots movement to keep the wish at the top as “diffuse” and “widespread.”

Euthanasia Prevention Coalition executive director Alex Schadenberg sent out an alert June 18 announcing that a coalition member had set up a group to support a new wish “Keep Euthanasia Illegal.”

Fortin said she has gone to the CBC’s Great Canadian Wish List added a vote of support to the anti-euthanasia wish as well.

Facebook has exploded on the Canadian scene in recent weeks. News outlets have used Facebook profiles to find out information about murder suspects. Politicians are using Facebook to stay in touch with voters and journalists are using Facebook to gain access to the profiles of politicians.

Originally targeting university campuses, Facebook has attracted millions of people, including almost 3 million Canadians. Ottawa alone has nearly 150,000 members. Toronto has almost 650,000 members.

Catholic groups abound, including one for the 2008 Eucharistic Congress in Quebec, and one designed specifically to pray for Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, who will be installed as the new archbishop of Ottawa July 26. There is also a group for The Catholic Register, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Toronto.

For instructions on how to join Facebook and register on the CBC wish contest, see the Web site www.bigbluewave.ca.