‘Distraction’ key word for leaders
Abortion, climate change hot topics as Trudeau, Scheer get personal
OTTAWA — Both Liberal and Conservative leaders faced attacks Thursday targeting the cores of their characters, as each accused the other of trying to distract voters from his record.
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said he does not expect the Liberals to stop talking about his views on abortion, even after he decided Thursday to state explicitly for the first time during the federal election campaign that he is personally against abortion.
“It’s a historic Liberal strategy, that when a Liberal government was dealing with scandal and corruption, it tried to sow fear among Canadians. It tried to divide Canadians with false attacks,” said Scheer, who has been highlighting the SNC-Lavalin affair in his argument that Trudeau cannot be trusted.
“So, I expect Justin Trudeau to continue to sow fear and division among Canadians,” Scheer said in Upper Kingsclear, N.B., when asked if he thought sharing his personal beliefs about abortion would put the matter to rest.
The Liberals spent years, notably during the 2004 and 2006 federal election campaigns, accusing then-Conservative leader Stephen Harper of harbouring a hidden agenda on things like abortion and same-sex marriage.
That theme returned when Trudeau, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Yves-Francois Blanchet of the Bloc Québécois all pushed Scheer to clarify his stance on abortion at the French-language debate on Wednesday night. They demanded to know whether he supports women having the right to choose to end their pregnancies.
Scheer did not answer the question about his personal views on stage, and he has evaded such questions since before the election campaign began.
On Thursday, Scheer decided to elaborate, while arguing he has been upfront about his position since he first ran for office 15 years ago. That includes during the Tory leadership race that saw many social conservatives vote for him after Brad Trost, a vocal abortion opponent, fell off the ballot.
“I am personally pro-life, but I have also made the commitment that as leader of this party, it is my responsibility to ensure that we do not reopen this debate, that we focus on issues that unite our party and unite Canadians,” he said.
“That is exactly what I will do and that is why I will vote against measures that attempt to reopen this debate.”
Later Thursday, it was reported Scheer holds dual American-Canadian citizenship through his father, who was born in the U.S.
Conservative spokesperson Daniel Schow said Scheer told the U.S. Embassy this summer that he was renouncing his American citizenship, something he decided to do after winning the leadership race in 2017. He’s waiting for the embassy to confirm the process is complete, Schow said.
Schow said Scheer has never voted in any U.S. election.
Scheer was pressed to clarify his stance on abortion this summer after it emerged that his Quebec lieutenant, Alain Rayes, had told candidates in the province that backbench MPs would not be allowed to bring forward any bills or motions on the issue.
That goes against party policy, which created confusion until Scheer, a practising Catholic who has voted in favour of restricting abortion rights in the past, said he would oppose any attempt to revive the issue.
As prime minister, Trudeau required all Liberal MPs to vote with his government on matters of reproductive health, and would-be candidates for his party are asked during the nomination process whether that would be a problem.
Trudeau, also a practising Catholic, said last month that he disagrees with what the Catholic Church teaches about abortion. Before he became Liberal leader, he had said he was against abortion, but believed women had the right to make their own choices.
Singh said Scheer should have elaborated on his position sooner.
“The fact that he said it today, but he didn’t say it during the debate when asked directly, certainly shows a lack of courage,” Singh said in Toronto.
Trudeau, meanwhile, accused the Conservatives of trying to distract from their own record on climate change by making hay out of the fact the Liberals have two campaign planes — one for passengers and one for cargo.
Scheer had brought it up during the debate on Wednesday night, calling Trudeau a hypocrite on the environment. The Liberals said the campaign is buying carbon offsets for greenhouse-gas emissions the planes produce.