Connect with us

Canada News

Liberals reject anti abortion Tory MP as head of status of women committee

Published

on

FILE: Trudeau told a news conference that his government supports the independence of committees, and that the Liberals on the status of women committee made the decision to walk out on their own — but that he supports their position. (Photo: Alex Guibord/Flickr)

FILE: Trudeau told a news conference that his government supports the independence of committees, and that the Liberals on the status of women committee made the decision to walk out on their own — but that he supports their position. (Photo: Alex Guibord/Flickr)

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is cheering Liberal MPs who walked out of a hearing Tuesday to prevent a Conservative counterpart with anti-abortion views from being named to head up the House of Commons committee on the status of women.

All the Liberal members of the committee got up and walked out right before they were scheduled to hold a vote on nominating Alberta MP Rachael Harder to the position of committee chair.

Harder, who represents the riding of Lethbridge, didn’t want to discuss the matter Tuesday but she has in the past expressed support for laws enacted to protect the rights of “unborn children,” and has said she believes life begins at conception.

Trudeau told a news conference that his government supports the independence of committees, and that the Liberals on the status of women committee made the decision to walk out on their own — but that he supports their position.

“We will always defend women’s rights in this party and in this government,” Trudeau said.

“Quite frankly, one would hope that the committee for the status of women would have a spokesperson who would be able to stand up and unequivocally defend women’s rights. That’s sort of the point of the status of women committee.”

The Liberals hold a majority on the committee and could have voted down the nomination, but instead opted to make a show of their disapproval by walking out of the hearing.

As they left, Liberal MPs denounced Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer — also opposed to abortion, but in a far more delicate position as leader than an MP from Alberta — for putting Harder forward for the job.

“These are not liberal values,” said Liberal MP Marc Serre. “We wanted to take a position as a party that we don’t support this decision by the leader of the Opposition.”

The Liberals are challenging Scheer to put forward someone who is not from the right-wing fringe of his party — and who doesn’t share his opinion on abortion.

Scheer, however, insisted Tuesday that he put forward Harder’s name because she’s a hard-working, strong and democratically elected MP, and repeated his position that his Conservative caucus has no interest in advancing an anti-abortion agenda.

And he made it clear that despite what the prime minister said later, he believes Trudeau had a hand in Tuesday’s theatrics.

“It’s certainly unprecedented that the prime minister would interfere and block the nomination of a democratically elected member of Parliament to serve as chair of a committee,” he said.

“I think it shows a lack of respect for the parliamentary process. It’s very unfortunate.”

Conservative MP Lisa Raitt, one of several Tories who ran against Scheer for the leadership, defended the choice of Harder to chair the committee, insisting that her personal feelings about an issue needn’t cloud her ability to do the job.

“Look at it this way: her beliefs are her beliefs, and she holds them herself. There are members of cabinet, Justin Trudeau’s cabinet, who hold the same beliefs,” Raitt said.

Trudeau has made it abundantly clear that those members of cabinet are expected to toe the party line when it comes to voting on issues that might conflict with their beliefs on abortion, she added.

“When the government says Rachel Harder can’t be the chair of this committee, what they’re saying is they don’t trust her to put her personal beliefs aside. They don’t give her the benefit of the doubt.”

Committee vice-chair and Liberal MP Pam Damoff said it now falls to the Conservatives to decide what to do next.

Inside the meeting room, Harder accused the Liberal MPs of disrespecting the democratic process. She refused to respond to questions from journalists asking about her position on abortion.

Maryam Monsef, the minister for the status of women, echoed Trudeau’s support.

“I support their choice,” she said. “And applaud their decision to be heard.”

Sheila Malcolmson, the NDP status of women critic who first flagged Harder’s nomination, thanked the Liberals for taking action.

“Ms. Harder’s position and commitment to advance legislation restricting a woman’s right to choose makes her an inappropriate choice to head the House of Commons committee charged with defending women’s rights in Canada,” Malcolmson said.

“Reproductive justice is foundational to women’s rights and there can be no question that we will defend all women’s rights as we pursue the advancement of the status of women in Canada.”

Continue Reading
Click to comment

0 Comments

  1. Helmethair

    September 27, 2017 at 4:56 AM

    Justin Trudeau will not tolerate anyone who hold’s pro-life views. How do Filipinos and Filipino Canadians feel about Justin Trudeau now?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Maria in Vancouver

Lifestyle3 days ago

Nobody Wants This…IRL (In Real Life)

Just like everyone else who’s binged on Netflix series, “Nobody Wants This” — a romcom about a newly single rabbi...

Lifestyle1 week ago

Family Estrangement: Why It’s Okay

Family estrangement is the absence of a previously long-standing relationship between family members via emotional or physical distancing to the...

Lifestyle2 months ago

Becoming Your Best Version

By Matter Laurel-Zalko As a woman, I’m constantly evolving. I’m constantly changing towards my better version each year. Actually, I’m...

Lifestyle2 months ago

The True Power of Manifestation

I truly believe in the power of our imagination and that what we believe in our lives is an actual...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

DECORATE YOUR HOME 101

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Our home interiors are an insight into our brains and our hearts. It is our own collaboration...

Maria in Vancouver3 months ago

Guide to Planning a Wedding in 2 Months

By Matte Laurel-Zalko Are you recently engaged and find yourself in a bit of a pickle because you and your...

Maria in Vancouver4 months ago

Staying Cool and Stylish this Summer

By Matte Laurel-Zalko I couldn’t agree more when the great late Ella Fitzgerald sang “Summertime and the livin’ is easy.”...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

Ageing Gratefully and Joyfully

My 56th trip around the sun is just around the corner! Whew. Wow. Admittedly, I used to be afraid of...

Maria in Vancouver5 months ago

My Love Affair With Pearls

On March 18, 2023, my article, The Power of Pearls was published. In that article, I wrote about the history...

Maria in Vancouver6 months ago

7 Creative Ways to Propose!

Sometime in April 2022, my significant other gave me a heads up: he will be proposing to me on May...