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Summer Jobs Abortion Clause Violates Fundamental Freedoms

Feb 1, 2018 | Editorials, Featured

Marco Levytsky, NP-UN Western Bureau.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to prevent any group that does not recognize abortion as an inherent right from getting federal grant money for government jobs has been met with condemnation that crosses all religious and political boundaries. It has united Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and Hindus – all in opposition to this decision.

On January 25, in partnership with ecumenical and interfaith organizations, the Canadian Council of Catholic Bishops helped organize a news conference held at St. Benedict Catholic Church in Toronto. Those speaking at the news conference were His Eminence Thomas Cardinal Collins; Bruce Clemenger, President, The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; Rabbi Chaim Strauchler, Shaarei Shomayim Congregation, Toronto; Imam Refaat Moham, Canadian Council of Imams; together with a number of those who had received funding assistance in the past through the Canada Summer Jobs program.

In a letter they sent both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Employment Minister Patty Hajdu they stated the following:

“The promise of a free and democratic society is that there be no religious or ideological tests or conditions to receiving government benefits or protection.

“The changes to the Canada Summer Jobs guidelines and application not only violate the fundamental freedoms of faith-based organizations, they also significantly impact the broader communities served by their programs, often the most vulnerable in Canadian society.

“Canada is known and widely respected as a religiously plural and multicultural society. Respect for the diversity of beliefs of all Canadians and meaningful engagement with those who hold differing beliefs is essential to maintaining a robust democracy.”

As for the political spectrum, it has been criticized not only by the Conservatives, but also by the strongly pro-choice New Democratic Party for imposing an ideological position upon unwilling subjects and driving a wedge among people. Even the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, which originally urged the government to cut off funding from pro-life groups, now says it should reverse the decision because it affects religious groups.

Employment Minister Hajdu has been performing verbal somersaults of amazing dexterity in trying to claim religious groups are not affected by this. But she has fallen on her proverbial head every time because this simply is not the case. Applicants who have tried to fill out the application form online have found that if they don’t check the attestation box they cannot continue. And they have also been informed that if they do not check the attestation box on a hard copy, their application will not be considered.

And what does the criteria for the attestation state? It is as follows:

“CSJ applicants will be required to attest that both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights and the right to be free from discrimination on the basis of sex, religion, race, national or ethnic origin, colour, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation or gender identity or expression….

“…The government recognizes that women’s rights are human rights. This includes sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions. These rights are at the core of the Government of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies.”

Putting this in a nutshell it very clearly states that if the organization’s “core mandate” does not include “the right to access safe and legal abortions”, they are disqualified.

So, let’s give a concrete example of what this means in practical terms. In this case the example we will use is the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Edmonton. In the past, the Eparchy has applied for funding to provide summer jobs for student in maintain the grounds at St. Michael’s Cemetery and their summer youth camps. The Eparchy is in a total quandary as to how to deal with this situation as it needs this money to hire people for these services which have absolutely nothing to do with these political issues.

But the Eparchy is a Christian Church organization that has a stated policy in opposition to abortion because it considers it to be a violation of the sanctity of life. But what about secular organizations which have no policy on abortion one way or another? Will they now be required to adopt a pro-abortion position in their “core mandate” in order to qualify for summer job grants?

Now, let us present the background to this issue. In 2017 the Toronto Right to Life group, which had regularly received about $10,000 in grant money, was denied funding from the 2017 Canada Summer Jobs grant program on the claim of limited funding. As a result, they commenced a lawsuit against the Ministry claiming the denial was a breach of the Charter 2(b) right to freedom of expression. Joining them in the lawsuit was Guelph Right to Life and the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform.

Rather than let the courts decide this very legitimate Charter challenge, the government decided to pay up the $10,000 with the rather contrived explanation that the group was “denied funding on the basis of a criteria neither set out in the Applicant’s Guide nor included in the MP’s list of local priorities for 2017.”

Having said that, the government then set out to change the Applicant’s Guide with the abortion stipulation. This is not only underhanded and insidious, it is also totally ridiculous. Because now, the government faces a new legal challenge from the Toronto Right to Life group, which now not only invokes section 2(b), but also 2(a) which guarantees religious rights.

Do they have a legitimate case? To quote once again from the Application Guide, the overview states that the “core mandate” of an organization is to “respect individual human rights in Canada, including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights.”

The key word here is “other rights”. Why the government had made that qualification is that it knows very well that abortion rights are not guaranteed under the Charter.

Here’s another gem: “The government recognizes that women’s rights are human rights. This includes sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions. These rights are at the core of the Government of Canada’s foreign and domestic policies.”

Since the Liberals now constitute the “Government” they dictate the government’s policies, so using the term “Government of Canada” is a very convenient euphemism for the Liberal Party of Canada.

The fact of the matter is there is no inherent legal right for abortion on demand within the Charter of Rights. And, believe it or not, Canada is one of the very few countries in the world that does not even have a law on abortion.

Until 1969, abortion was a criminal act under any circumstances. Justin’s father, Pierre Elliot Trudeau amended the Criminal Code, allowing doctors to perform abortions in accredited hospitals if a pregnancy threatened the health or life of a woman. A committee of doctors was required to approve the procedure. In all other circumstances, abortion remained illegal.

This was perceived as much too draconian by pro-choice groups and was openly challenged by Dr. Henry Morgentaler of Montreal who proceeded to provide abortions on demand in violation of the law. As a result, he was charged several times and several court decisions ensued which resulted ultimately in Regina vs Morgentaler in 1988, which (again believe it or not) has become the foundation of Canada’s quasi-legal abortion policy.

The court found that the Criminal Code provision on abortion violated a woman’s right to “life, liberty and security of the person” guaranteed under Section 7 of the Charter.

But what the court did not say was that there was an inherent right to abortion under the Charter. Rather, it said the system regulating access to abortions – particularly the hospital review committees that were meant to approve abortion requests – had so many barriers and operated so poorly that it was “manifestly unfair.” As a result, the abortion law was struck down. Although the law technically remains in the Criminal Code, it is considered unconstitutional and therefore unenforceable. Because no other law has replaced it, abortion is permitted in Canada by legal default.

Should Justin Trudeau attempt to address the very contentious issue of abortion once and for all – then he should introduce legislation providing very clear-cut standards and be prepared to face whatever political repercussions that may entail. And he should not impose party discipline upon his MPs but allow them to vote by conscience as every other Prime Minister that preceded him has done.

But it seems that Justin Trudeau is not prepared to follow the proper legal and constitutional mechanisms to provide comprehensive legislation, but rather to go through the backdoor route to impose his own ideological beliefs upon the general Canadian public in an undemocratic, unconstitutional, and underhanded way. That is not the way democracies operate. That is the way dictatorships do.

We wonder what Pierre Elliot Trudeau – the father of both the 1982 Constitution of Canada and of Justin Trudeau – must be thinking from above.

Perhaps this can best be summarized by the opening line of the 1982 Constitution which states the following:

“Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law”.

Pierre Trudeau enshrined that definition in the Constitution. But it appears that Justin Trudeau would prefer to ignore it.

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