Saturday, March 9, 2013

Putting the opposition in its place

This. Is disturbing. On a couple of levels:
“The concern about Mr. Warawa’s motion is that the opposition has positioned it as an issue about abortion so it becomes a very divisive issue. I haven’t decided but I will probably vote with the cabinet which is going to be voting against it, only because it has been set up that way.”

Minister Rona Ambrose said this regarding Mark Warawa's motion to condemn “discrimination against females, occurring through sex-selective pregnancy termination.”

The most obvious reason Ms. Ambrose's statement is troubling, is because how can anyone not condemn sex-selection abortion? Just yesterday Mr. Harper issued a press release that said:
"Our Government supports grassroots organizations across the country for community projects aimed at ending violence against women and girls. These include initiatives addressing violence against women in four key areas: violence committed in the name of so-called ‘honour’; the trafficking of women and girls; women and girls in high-risk neighbourhoods; and engaging men and boys..."

We also know that Mr. Harper has stated that his government will not support the Motion.

Yet our Government says they are against violence against women and girls, but can't bring themselves to condemn violence against girl babies before they are born. This makes no sense.

The second reason Ms. Ambrose statement is of concern is this part:
"The concern about Mr. Warawa’s motion is that the opposition has positioned it as an issue about abortion so it becomes a very divisive issue."

Of course the opposition has positioned the Motion as an issue about abortion, this is what the opposition does. Whenever they can make anything an issue about abortion, they do it. And it's divisive because we play into the opposition's fear mongering and allow them to bully us into feeling threatened by the motion, making the motion something that it clearly isn't. When the opposition goes into attack mode on any other issue in this country, do we then say: "Oh dear, I better not vote for something that makes perfect sense because the opposition won't like it"?

Is that how our Cabinet Ministers work in Parliament? Become afraid of voting a particular way because the opposition will make it "divisive"? No it isn't. At least it isn't for any other topic. Only topics that pertain to pre-born children, get this special treatment.

I hope that Ms. Ambrose and all of the cabinet, including Mr. Harper, will look at the Motion and vote with their conscience, and not vote in a way that kowtows to the shrillness of the opposition who imagines things that are not even there.

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