NEWS RELEASE

March 22, 2004                                                                                       For Immediate Release

BREITKREUZ RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARD FROM REAL WOMEN OF CANADA

“I am honoured to be recognized for the family values I believe so strongly in.”

Ottawa – Garry Breitkreuz, Member of Parliament for the riding of Yorkton-Melville, has received the annual National Award from REAL Women of Canada for his outstanding contribution to preserve and promote traditional family values in Canadian society. The award was presented March 13^th at the organization’s national conference held this year in Saskatoon.

“I am honoured to be recognized for something I believe so strongly in and that is the tradition of family values,” said Breitkreuz. “Strong families and family values are the foundations of our future. Without family values our children can lose sight of important life lessons and can be easily influenced with tragic results. A strong family provides the stability our children need to make confident choices in their daily lives. Knowing there are supportive parents waiting at home can be the difference between a teen giving in to peer pressure or saying no to drugs.”

REAL (Realistic, Equal, Active for Life) Women is one of Canada’s largest national women’s organizations operating under the motto: Women’s rights, but not at the expense of human rights. Among their objectives is to reaffirm that the family is society’s most important unit, since the nurturing of its members is best accomplished in the family setting. They also believe in the right to life for all innocent individuals from conception to death and they promote, secure and defend legislation upholding the Judeo-Christian understanding of marriage and family life.

Through his work in the House of Commons, Breitkreuz has brought attention to such issues through motions and petitions, including a Private Member’s Bill entitled the Woman’s Right to Know Act, that would ensure all women considering an abortion be completely informed of procedural risks and that the procedure require consent from the mother. Even more recent is Breitkreuz’s Private Member’s Motion M-560 that calls on the government to create a new Criminal Code offence for the murder of an unborn child. This would see that any person who murders a woman knowing that she is pregnant be charged with the murder of the unborn child as well.

“Strong, traditionally-defined marriages between a man and a woman should not be compromised because of one government’s agenda,” said Breitkreuz. “Recognition by an organization like REAL Women of Canada reaffirms my need to continue the fight against the Liberal government to protect our families and the values that have long served this country.”

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