CHURCH LEADERS OFFER PRAYERS FOR HARPER AND NEW CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT

Christian church leaders meeting in Winnipeg yesterday bowed their
heads for victorious Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

"We said a prayer for the incoming prime minister and his
government," said Winston Smith, chairman of this fall's Central
Canada Franklin Graham Festival in Winnipeg. Tens of thousands of
people are expected to attend the non-denominational festival Oct.
20-22 with the son of world-famous evangelist and spiritual leader
Rev. Billy Graham.

Close to 100 Christian church leaders from in and around Winnipeg met
yesterday morning to prepare for the event.

Monday night's election win propelled to power the Conservatives,
some of whom have come out against gay marriage and other issues
Christian evangelicals have opposed.

"We said a prayer to really thank God for entering the hearts and
minds of voters so they would exercise their right to vote," Smith said.

Other faith-based groups shouted hallelujah at the Conservative win.

"(Monday's election) was a great victory for marriage as dozens of
the 162 members of Parliament who voted to redefine marriage, are no
longer in Parliament," said Charles McVety, president of Canada
Family Action Coalition in Toronto. "The people of Canada have
rejected the extremism of redefining marriage, and the plans to
legalize prostitution, marijuana and euthanasia," the coalition leader said.

"This election has demonstrated the resolve of mainstream Canadians
to respond to the attacks and not allow extremists to take over the
country," McVety said.

The election of Harper's minority government isn't a rejection of
Liberal corruption in the wake of the sponsorship scandal, but a
condemnation of its moral fibre, according to the Institute for
Canadian Values.

"(Prime Minister Paul) Martin's values are embodied in a record that
has, as its highlights, legislation to change the definition of
marriage, decriminalize marijuana," said Joseph Ben-Ami in Ottawa,
executive director of the Judeo-Christian based institute. "...
Canadians repudiated this radical agenda, opting instead for the
sensible, mainstream middle-class values that have been the
cornerstone of Canadian society for generations.