An election is in the air, and the Liberals are floundering, as evidenced by the fact that they are 21 percentage points behind the Opposition Conservative Party.
In their desperation, the Liberals are looking to score cheap political points to rescue themselves from their political doom. They are doing so by virtue signalling once again on the abortion issue, trying to create a political wedge on abortion as they did in their 2021 election platform when they proposed they would:
No longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations (for example, pregnancy care centres) that provide dishonest counselling [sic] to women about their rights and about the options available to them at all stages of the pregnancy.
Simply put, the Liberals in their 2021 platform promised to strip the charitable status from pregnancy care centres because they allegedly were providing “misinformation” to women. However, for legal and Charter reasons, they were not able to carry out this proposal. The 2021 proposal was just another failed Liberal promise. However, the Liberals are trying a similar political stunt again.
On October 24, 2024, at the Ways and Means Committee, Marci len, Minister of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) put forward a motion (#26) that was designed to score support from feminists and other woke individuals to ensure the left-wing vote goes to the Liberals rather than to the NDP. The Liberals also hope to cause division within the Conservative caucus and expose the Conservatives as “anti-choice”. It is the Liberals who are anti-choice as they want women to go in one direction – abortion. What is so wrong with providing support to a woman if she prefers an alternative to abortion? Ms len’s motion proposes amending the Income Tax Act and regulations to require charities providing reproductive health services to state clearly that they do not provide abortions or make referrals for them. In other words, the Ways and Means Motion 26 is actually an attempt to distract from their falling poll numbers and continuing scandals – hallmarks of Trudeau’s time as Prime Minister. It tries to avoid the political minefield created by their 2021 proposal and has everything to do with making abortion a wedge issue during the forthcoming election.
Reading the press release, the background briefing note, and remarks made by Liberals on introducing the Motion gives the political game away, with accusations made without providing examples to support their claim that the pregnancy centres were behaving improperly.
Moreover, if the motion had really been intended to deal with revenue under the Income Tax Act, it would have been tabled by Finance Minister, Chrystia Freeland. Instead, four cabinet ministers, Freeland, len, Mark Holland (Minister of Health) and Jean-Yves Duclos (Minister of Public Services and Procurement), all spoke vaguely about “deceptive practices and tactics” of pregnancy care centres.
The Liberal government currently funds abortion clinics. If it really wanted to provide a choice for women, it should also fund pregnancy care centres and adoption services. They should also insist, in fairness, that abortion clinics advertise that they do not provide counselling and alternatives to abortion.
For further information contact:
Pauline Guzik
National President
REAL Women of Canada
Cathy Smith
Western Canada Board Member
REAL Women of Canada
Email: info@realwomenofcanada.ca
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