National Post (National Edition)
Sparks fly over status of women position
OTTAWA • Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer is accusing Liberals of a “lack of respect” for parliament after a kerfuffle in the status of women committee Tuesday morning.
Liberals and New Democrats oppose the Tories’ nomination of an apparently prolife MP for committee chair, a role traditionally held by a member of the official opposition. After Rachael Harder was put forward for the role, Liberals vacated their seats in protest and forced the committee meeting to adjourn.
How to handle the issue is a test for Scheer, who is trying to keep the big blue tent a safe space for social conservatives and pro-choice Conservatives alike. Unlike the Liberals, who mandate pro-choice votes, the Tories allow MPs to vote however they like on issues of conscience, including abortionrelated issues.
“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,” Scheer said outside the Commons Tuesday afternoon. “I think it shows a lack of respect for the parliamentary process. It’s very unfortunate.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said during a press conference that the committee is independent and Liberal MPs made their own decision, but he supports them. “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’s Committee.”
The Liberal protest came after New Democrat critic Sheila Malcolmson raised concerns over Harder’s nomination Monday.
Malcolmson said she doesn’t think having prolife views is “problematic” for Harder as a parliamentarian, but a committee focused on women’s issues should ensure its chair and spokesperson is someone who supports reproductive rights.
“We wouldn’t accept a chair of an Indigenous affairs committee that opposes the Indigenous right to selfdetermine. We wouldn’t accept a chair of the languages committee that opposes French language rights,” Malcolmson said.
Harder’s voting record is deemed impeccable by prolife group Campaign Life Coalition. A representative from the coalition spoke to the Post in August and endorsed Harder’s appointment as status of women critic, saying there is a “bias for abortion” in Canadian politics that “is not representative of all women’s views in Canada.”
Harder had replied “yes,” in 2014, to the group’s questions about whether she believed life begins at conception and about introducing laws to protect fetuses. She told the Post in a statement last month, though, “it is the official policy of the Conservative party that a future Conservative government will not reopen the abortion debate.”
Lisa Raitt, the Conservatives’ deputy leader, said outside the House she’d hoped a discussion could have gone ahead in the meeting room Tuesday morning so the committee could begin its work.
Raitt added she believes Harder’s personal beliefs wouldn’t pre-empt her from being able to act as an impartial chair. “When the government says Rachael 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.”
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel accused Liberals of hypocrisy with a series of tweets. “Presupposing the thoughts and ability of a democratically elected MP to be impartial simply based on political dogma, and then seeking to suppress her, is hilarious coming from supposed ‘free thinking’ ‘feminists,’ ” she wrote.
Neither side in the debate shows signs of backing down. Committee members face each other again Thursday morning.