Splitting Ethical and Moral Hairs

"[Was this the most egregious example of unethical behaviour by a politician she had to deal with as ethics watchdog?]"
"No. It was the most noticeable one [because it represented the first of their kind regarding a sitting prime minister.] It was an error made, a miscalculation. It was highly noticeable because he was the prime minister."
"I’m not of the view myself that more stringent penalties are required… in my view, publicity and the test of reelection make up the appropriate form of redress. The publicity is bad enough."
Mary Dawson, retired Parliamentary Ethics Commissioner

"An organization that has the explicit purpose of restricting women's rights by removing rights to abortion and the right for women to control their own bodies is not in line with where we are as a government, and quite frankly where we are as a society."
"Of course, you're more than allowed to have whatever beliefs you like. But when those beliefs tend to actions determined to restrict a woman's right to control her own body, that's where I, and I think we, draw the line as a country. And that's where we [the Trudeau government] stand on that."
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau fields a question at a town hall meeting in Lower Sackville, N.S. on Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2018.   Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press

The prime minister who celebrates himself as a 'feminist' also enjoys hob-nobbing with prestigious and wealthy elites, alternating that propensity with his attraction for dictators whose governments are able to mandate what the people will adhere to, through a social contract of their devising. The ethics commissioner was asked by the opposition parties in Parliament to look into the matter of the Trudeau family spending $100,000 of taxpayer funding to take a Christmas holiday on the private island of the Agha Khan.

The complication here is a prime minister accepting favours and gifts from those for whom decisions taken by the Government of Canada can be profitable. The Aga Khan has ongoing official business with the government in seeking funds for a number of projects. The Aga Khan Foundation itself is registered to lobby the Office of the Prime Minister; ergo the prime minister is in a position to 'help' the Aga Khan. The ethics commissioner found that gifts accepted by Justin Trudeau and his family were unethical.

The prime minister's response was to declare regret for the "mistake" made in not having "cleared" free and costly vacations he decided to take, with the ethics commissioner. He was rebuked, and faced no penalties, thanks to the generous interpretation the ethics commissioner took on the matter, that the fallout from his 'error' might convince voters that this man lacked critical judgement. She did conclude that Trudeau had violated four provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act.

She also coincidentally found that Trudeau should have chosen to recuse himself from attendance at two meetings with the Aga Khan Foundation focusing on a $15-million federal grant to benefit the endowment fund of the Aga Khan's Global Centre for Pluralism. A most inconvenient finding, but one that the prime minister appeared to have no problem with, distancing himself from the issue with the promise he would do better in future.

This is the same man who has imposed upon Canada's religious communities a pledge not to reject a woman's right to abortion should they wish to access tax funding allowing them to hire students in multifarious projects benefiting society. Orthodox religious institutions take a stance on abortions and access to abortions, regarding these procedures as offensive to god, and unsupportable by their scriptures.

A majority of Canadians, on the other hand, support a woman's right to abortion. Yet evangelical Christian groups and the Roman Catholic Church advise their members against abortion. To further complicate matters, Canada has no law either pro- or -con on abortion. It is generally accepted within society that abortion is a legal procedure where once it was seen as illegal with criminal penalties attaching to the issue. We live in a more enlightened time in society, quite obviously, but one that has no need of forcing those who are 'pro-life' and anti-abortion to accept the freedom to choose.

This is their prerogative in a liberal Democracy, with guarantees to freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This Liberal-led government of Justin Trudeau has taken it upon itself under his direction to make it mandatory for all groups wishing to qualify for grants to hire summer students, to agree that they support a woman's right to abortions. They have appended an 'attestation' of abortion rights to all registrations for such grants; without checking off the 'attestation' box their registration is nullified.

"In terms of church groups that are concerned that this may invalidate them from funding, in fact, my perspective is that it won't, as long as their core mandate agrees with those hard won rights and freedoms that Canadians expect us to stand up for."
"We think this is a fair process. [Faith groups should be fine checking the box if] their core mandate is actually, for example, administering the word of God, or administering spiritual guidance for people ... These are the kinds of things that, if you look at the core mandates of faith groups, that they talk about."
"We're working very closely, as I said, with faith groups to make sure that they understand that as long as their core mandate is not in violation of Canadian human rights and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it's not violating a woman's ultimate right to control her own body, that they should have absolutely no problem receiving grant money, provided they, you know, fill out the application properly [by checking the attestation]."
Employment Minister Patty Hadju

"[The attestation] seriously undermines the right to religious freedom since the Government of Canada is directly limiting the right of religious traditions to hold, teach and practise their principles and values in public."
Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops

Zohra Surani, 21, left and Melinda Cuffy, 23, pore over job listings at the Summer Jobs Services Centre at 511 Richmond Street West in downtown Toronto.    Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail

Catholic, evangelical and other religious groups argue that the new attestation on the Canada Summer Jobs grant application is unprecedented, unfair, and possibly illegal. That forcing applicants to attest to their views on abortion while applying runs counter to their human rights, and their rights to equality of treatment and freedom of expression and religion guaranteed under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Their concern extends to the possibility of the attestation appearing on other government grants and programs as well.

The Charter protects freedom of expression, freedom of conscience and religion, and guarantees the  freedom to be treated equally under the law. Moreover, an anti-abortion group in Toronto has filed a Federal Court case to argue their Charter rights are being violated through the application of this attestation -- and though they are the first to do so, they will not be the last. This government's coercive attitude contrasts sharply with the perceived freedom of the prime minister to believe anything he does personally is beyond criticism.

Some 70,000 placements for students are funded by the summer jobs grant program on an annual basis. A grant system that has been relied heavily upon by religious groups operating summer camps, daycares, drop-in centres and other public service programs of value to society at large. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada along with the Canadian Council for Christian charities state complaints have been pouring in from groups who feel insecure in applying, or are uncertain what agreeing with the attestation will result in.

Some have resorted to their own devices by forwarding their grant applications and substituting the government attestation with one of their own devising, guaranteed to be rejected while upholding the principle of supporting a procedure they reject, as is their right.

The Canadian Press/Fred Chartrand

Thousands gather on Parliament Hill for the March for Life rally in Ottawa on Thursday, May 11, 2017.