Hypocrisy Roosts In Revolt

"We, the undersigned, former Liberal Members of Parliament, are concerned about your [Liberal leader Justin Trudeau] recent pronouncement that people who hold a particular view on a given moral issue, as a matter of conscience, cannot be Liberal candidates for the position of MP unless they agree to park their consciences at the entrance to the House of Commons and vote directly opposite to their fundamental beliefs, as directed by you. We believe your undemocratic position will alienate many voters who have, in the past, voted Liberal. We ask that you rescind your decision, for at least the following reasons.
"First, the firm position of all previous Liberal Leaders, including Pierre E. Trudeau, has been that, on moral issues, Liberal Members of Parliament were able to vote according to their respective consciences. This clear and consistent position served the Party well, as witnessed by the number of years the Liberal Party was the Government in the 20th Century, For you to fully reverse this wise, long-held position of all your predecessors, without any cogent reason, legal or otherwise, has the potential to alienate many former Liberal voters.
"Second, since your edict singles out the issue of being opposed to abortion, but only that issue, it clearly discriminates against a select class of people, namely those who oppose abortion, and no one else, such as those who might oppose, or be in favour of, say, assisted suicide. We believe that such discrimination is a clear violation of the spirit, if not the letter, of The Charter of Rights and Freedoms, section 2(a) which guarantees everyone, even Liberal Members of Parliament, "freedom of conscience", and (b), which guarantees everyone, even Liberal Members of Parliament, "freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression."
"Third, your pronouncement deprives the members of local Liberal Riding Associations from nominating for election, anyone who is pro-life, and, by logical extension, anyone who has firm personal beliefs on any issue that differs from Party policy as imposed by you. This clearly negates your promise that Liberal nominations will be fair, open and democratic.
"Finally, if your order is not rescinded, it will stand as a precedent for you, and future Liberal Leaders, to issue similar edicts on other moral issues, such as being either for or against assisted suicide, euthanasia, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, animal/human genetic splicing/mixing and many such issues which we cannot even imagine today, but which may develop as our technological knowledge increases at an ever more rapid pace. After all, if the Leader can ban people from running for the Party because they are opposed to abortion, then why not because they advocate euthanasia, or agree with human cloning, or are opposed to either or both these concepts? Where does one draw the line?
"As Liberal leader, we urge you to return to democratic principles and sensible Party tradition and rescind your ban on people who hold a particular moral belief, from running for the Party, unless they agree to do exactly as demanded by you. How can such a discriminatory policy serve the democratic ideals of our great nation?"
(Signed) Garnet Bloomfield, Murray Calder, Rex Crawford, Pat O'Brien, John O'Reilly, Janko Peric, Tom Wappel, former Liberal Members of Parliament

Federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau says his MP John McKay has strong feeling about abortion 

which explains his 'bozo eruption' remark about Trudeau. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Well, Oops, Justin Trudeau. The current Prime Minister, whom you wish to replace as speedily as possible governs on behalf of all the people of Canada. You, it seems, plan to govern for those who believe as you do. Canadians should see it in their best interests to elect a seasoned, intelligent individual capable of governing the country in the very best interests of all concerned.

While it has often been claimed that Stephen Harper runs a too-tight ship, restraining his ministers from making public statements unless they have his full confidence, and that he is autocratic and mean-spirited, the truth appears to tell us a somewhat different story. The story now revolves around a Liberal leader who insists on vetting riding candidates before permitting them to run for public office, and who prefers to hand-pick choice candidates in specific ridings.

Justin Trudeau has proven himself time and again to be a person whose education is somewhat as lacking as his experience and it shows in his public performance. The tragedy is that the public sees the celebrity persona with the flashing smile and hears promises that are saccharine and meaningless in the context of the business of governance. And they are prepared to forgive him all manner of transgressions, inclusive of his ill-advised public speaking fees while a Member of Parliament, and his absences from the House, missing far too many working days in preference of glad-handing.

From expressing sympathy for the exploits of terrorists who must, according to Mr. Trudeau, have suffered some ignominious past personal painful hurt to turn them to psychopathy, to admiration for a communist dictatorship's ability to bypass public opinion, to tolerance for a simple majority in Quebec secession, and the puzzling cutting of the umbilical cord between the party and the Senate, his ill-advised opinions and dictates point to callow and shallow.

It is not just past Liberal MPs who have been critical of Trudeau, but current members as well. When Justin Trudeau initially announced his dictate that anyone opposing a woman's right to abortion under any circumstances would have no place in the Liberal Party, John McKay, a longtime Liberal who has held various cabinet posts under previous Liberal governments and who acts currently as his party's environment critic stated: "I initially thought it was a bozo eruption; that he didn't actually think about what he said."

 His leader had said Liberal members would be expected to vote against any bill that would have the effect of restricting a woman's right to have access to safe, legal abortions, in order to respect the charter. While he himself appears not to respect the charter. And at a time and place when there is no concern in Canada that women should have the right to decide for themselves whether or not they wish to carry a full-term pregnancy. In Canada, the problem is provinces like Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick that flout the unwritten law.

Mr. McKay, according to a CTV News report was recorded saying "If you don't know this is a toxic issue for a population, then you have no political sense whatever." Retired Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis at the time informed a popular television interlocutor that the recently issued dictum by Trudeau "would hurt the party", and his prognostication was quite correct. Prime Minister Harper, on the other hand, has stated on several occasions that he has no intention of changing the current situation in Canada on abortion, reflecting a Canadian consensus.

"The Liberals were already the big tent party ... He's now reduced that party to the pup tent. He's really narrowed the choice for people. He's made the Liberals a carbon copy of the NDP. I call it NDP-lite", said Pat O'Brien, former Liberal MP from Ontario. The Prime Minister is far more democratic than his challenger. It is now revealed that Mr. Harper is fully supportive of a legislative plan to strip him personally of the power, as party leader, to veto election candidates favoured by local riding associations.

Justin Trudeau has interfered in a number of riding association nominations, and is now the target of a law suit as a result. "This prime minister [Stephen Harper] is now acting in a manner that is more democratic than any of his predecessors. He becomes the first leader in a half century to declare his support for the removal of the legal veto power of party leaders over candidates. That speaks once again to his willingness to cede power to the Canadian people and to grassroots political participants so that they can exercise their own will", stated Conservative MP Pierre Polivier.