Two MPs break ranks on summer jobs vote
Christopherson, Simms object to attestation
David Christopherson is pro-choice and has been an elected New Democrat for three decades. But on Monday night, he simply couldn’t bring himself to vote with the rest of his party on the Canada Summer Jobs attestation, which requires applicants to declare their core mandate respects abortion rights. “Canadians have a right to disagree with the law, recognizing they will respect it and will honour the law,” he said. “You have the right to say anything you want about a law, and that attestation took that right away. I cannot condone that.”
The motion, put forward by the Conservatives, said groups that engage in nonpolitical, non-activist work should be able to access the summer jobs grant regardless of whether they tick the attestation box. It was defeated 207 to 93, thanks to nearly every Liberal and NDP MP in attendance voting against it — except for Christopherson and Liberal MP Scott Simms.
“I wrestled with it, of course. You don’t vote against your own caucus lightly,” Christopherson said. “To me, at the end of the day, that box took away Canadians’ right to disagree with the laws that they have to obey. I had a very strong, fundamental problem with that. And just abstaining wasn’t good enough.” In January, the government issued a clarification that “core mandate” refers only to activities, not values. It released examples of organizations that were eligible, such as homeless shelters run by churches. But many faith-based groups still had a problem with the attestation’s wording, and Christopherson felt the same way.
“The attestation remains as a standalone statement,” he said. “If they had gone with the examples only and said these are the guidelines, these are the sorts of things, I would have had no problem at all.” Christopherson, who has been a Hamilton city councillor and member of Ontario’s legislature, and is now MP for Hamilton Centre, said he’s always been prochoice.
“That’s got nothing to do with it,” he said. “In fact, that’s why it was difficult … I spent the whole day wrestling with my conscience.” Simms’ vote wasn’t a surprise, as he had already told his local CBC station in Newfoundland he opposed the attestation. “The application is asking them to do something that they shouldn’t be asked to do for the sake of a summer job for kids,” he said. He wasn’t available for an interview Tuesday, and it’s not yet clear whether he’ ll face a reprimand. The NDP has struggled with responding to the attestation. B.C. MP Nathan Cullen initially said it was offensive to some Canadians and was “driving a wedge on something that we needed no wedge drawn on,” but later apologized and said his caucus supported the attestation.
During debate on March 2, most NDP MPs said they would support the motion even though the Liberals botched the implementation. “What is disappointing about the government’s vague criteria is that they are casting a shadow over a very useful program that is highly valued in all of our ridings,” said Quebec MP Brigitte Sansoucy.
Ontario NP Charlie Angus accused the Liberals of clumsily picking a fight with Conservatives.
“Call me cynical, but the Liberals love culture wars,” he said. “They made a values test that was unnecessary for all the organizations that sign up. Now they are trying to do damage control by saying
I WRESTLED WITHIT, OF COURSE. YOU DON’T VOTE AGAINST YOUR OWN CAUCUS LIGHTLY.
that they did not really mean that. The Conservatives, of course, love this kind of culture war and are jumping on it.”
The Green Party’s Elizabeth May voted in favour of the motion, saying the government had “overreached” with the attestation.
“I will be voting for the opposition motion because I believe the attestation box was a mistake, but not because for one second I will surrender on a woman’s right to equal choice and equal rights,” she said during debate.
As for Christopherson, he said it came down to how this was affecting his constituents. “Remember, nothing is closer to us than what happens on the ground in our ridings,” he said. “This is about NGOs and volunteers helping to feed the homeless, helping to clean up the environment, speaking to health issues in the community. This is grassroots stuff.”