PM SHOULD READ CHARTER
Compelling groups to agree with government policy on abortion is unethical, maybe worse
Pierre Elliott Trudeau — one of the main architects of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms — would be rolling over in his grave if he knew how cavalier his eldest son is with its contents.
So to refresh Trudeau Junior’s memory, here are some key components of the charter, which is pinned to my bulletin board at work.
The first line is my favourite: “Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.”
In other words — despite the flavour, fashion or government of the day, our charter recognizes that there is a higher law than human law — an absolute law and truth personified by an absolute being.
Truth, in other words, is not relative; rather, it is absolute. That’s the very foundation upon which Canada is built and upon which the rule of law in this great country has evolved, whether you believe in a supreme being or not.
Next, it reads that the charter “guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.”
The very next paragraph states: “2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: (a) freedom of conscience and religion; ( b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication; (c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and freedom of association.”
Trudeau the younger would be wise to note that the very first fundamental freedom any Canadian has is the freedom of conscience and the next is freedom of religion — which includes having no religion.
Those were not given top billing by accident. It is first and second, because without those rights, you live in North Korea. Freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief, opinion and expression are the very basis of any free and democratic society.
Those fundamental freedoms are slowly being eroded by a thought-police mentality that has morphed into our government and by small-minded, easily offended, narcissistic wannabe victims who get an inordinate amount of attention.
Our PM would be wise to read over the entire charter again and ponder those predominant words signed off by his father in 1981, and which became law in 1982.
Over the last week or so, Canada’s faith communities have rightly expressed alarm at the coercive attempt by Trudeau’s government to tear up Canada’s fundamental freedoms in order to force churches, synagogues, mosques and faith-based social agencies to sign onto the Liberal party’s platform on abortion — in order to have an equal chance at securing federal funding from the Canada Summer Jobs program.
Applicants for the grant must click an “attestation” stating in part: “Both the job and the organization’s core mandate respect individual human rights ... including the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as well as other rights. These include reproductive rights.”
It is an unnecessarily problematic paragraph. If it is not agreed to online by clicking the box, the application is rejected.
Most churches and faith-based organizations that feed, shelter, house, clothe, counsel and love the homeless, poor and addicted, have nothing to do with abortion — at all. So, while most could easily check the box were it to stop at the end of the first sentence, they’re unable to do so and remain true to their conscience, when it comes to abortion, even if they’re neutral on the issue as an organization.
What’s most galling is the vast majority of the organizations that help the poorest of the poor are church-affiliated organizations. And, the vast majority of the money given to charities is donated by church goers. These are facts verified by Statistics Canada.
In other words, the very people who fund and do most of the volunteering are the very ones who will be excluded from this federal program, meaning those they help are the ones who will suffer the most, as well as the young people who want to help.
Compelling people to agree with the government’s policies in order to access a federal program is clearly unethical, if not actionable. Since the story of this controversy broke, the messages Trudeau and his government have been giving have been mixed.
On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Employment Minister Patty Hajdu said federal officials have been proactively contacting orga- nizations that have received funds in the past.
But none of the large faithbased umbrella organizations — including the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Council of Christian Charities — say they have been contacted, says Julia Beazley, director of public policy with the evangelical fellowship.
When asked via email, who, specifically the government has contacted, a spokesperson sent a statement that reiterated that the government “encourages” faithbased organizations to apply, but that they must sign the attestation. They did not answer how many or which organizations the government has “reached out to.”
Beazley says the good news is the government is finally “speaking to the concerns.” Sadly, however, they are speaking in riddles.
Last Wednesday, during a town hall meeting in Hamilton, Ont., Trudeau said religious groups shouldn’t be discouraged from applying for the student work grant, which pays 80 per cent of a minimum wage salary for nine weeks (it used to be for 12 weeks).
“So many of the great community organizations that we have working incredibly hard are faithbased across this country, and it’s an important and wonderful part of our society,” Trudeau said.
But he added, “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.”
In other words, Trudeau attempted to draw a distinction between groups that hold pro-life beliefs and groups whose main mandate is to oppose abortion. So, Trudeau should take the next step and direct his minister to make the attestation say that.
Catherine Macnab, the executive director of Planned Parenthood Ottawa — a pro-choice organization that has also received funding for summer jobs through the program — says the government is right to screen out groups that want to re-criminalize abortion. However, when asked whether churches whose teachings oppose abortion should be ineligible for program funding, Macnab was unequivocal: “No.”
“Churches do fantastic work,” Macnab said. “For sure, there’s no issue around churches getting the funding ... we can’t use the Canada (summer) jobs funding to try to control what people think.”
If Trudeau refuses to reread the charter his dad helped write, perhaps he should read Macnab’s statement.
Canada’s fundamental freedoms are slowly being eroded by a thought-police mentality that has morphed into our government, and by small-minded, easily offended, narcissistic wannabe victims who get an inordinate amount of attention. Columnist Licia Corbella