‘These incidents appear to be homicides’

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, January 31, 2013 at 5:09 PM - 0 Comments

Conservative MPs Maurice Vellacott, Leon Benoit and Wladyslaw Lizon have written to the RCMP to request that some abortions be investigated as homicides.

In their letter, the MPs wrote that between 2000 and 2009 there were 491 abortions performed on Canadian women who were pregnant for longer than 19 weeks. They contend that at this stage of gestation, the abortions involved live babies. “These are vulnerable, innocent children that homicide has been perpetrated on,” Vellacott said Thursday from Ottawa. “The individuals who have perpetrated the breach of the Criminal Code should be charged and brought to justice.”

The NDP’s Megan Leslie led Question Period this afternoon and challenged the Prime Minister on this.

Megan Leslie. Mr. Speaker, just days after the 25th anniversary of the Morgentaler decision and just days after we heard the Minister for Status of Women acknowledge that Canadians do not want the abortion debate reopened, we see another attempt by the Conservative backbench to do just that. These Conservatives are trying to get the RCMP to investigate abortions as murders. Will the government make it clear that this question was settled 25 years ago? Will the Prime Minister make it clear that he and his government understand that abortion is not murder?

Stephen Harper. Mr. Speaker, I think all members of the House, whether they agree with it or not, understand that abortion is legal in Canada. This government, myself included, have made it very clear that the government does not intend to change the law in this regard.

After QP, Bob Rae offered his particular concern.

Well, I believe the Prime Minister when he says he does not intend to do that. But it’s obvious that there are a lot of members of his caucus who want to do that. I think there’s also a question about—there’s a difference between Joe Public writing a letter to the Commissioner of the RCMP and the Commissioner of the RCMP receiving such a letter. I don’t think the application of the criminal law in Canada should be subject to political pressure of any kind whatsoever from any source whatsoever and I regret the fact that members are doing this because I think it creates a sense that somehow this determination is a political determination. It’s been a common understanding of the law in Canada that the decision to terminate a pregnancy is not a criminal act and that is the law of Canada so I think it’s important that we all start from that premise.

Turn the other cheek, unless you’re in an abortion clinic

By Colby Cosh - Thursday, October 25, 2012 at 2:42 PM - 0 Comments

OTTAWA — An anti-abortion activist who is currently in jail in Toronto has received one of the Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee medals intended to mark “significant achievements” by Canadians. Mary Wagner, 38, who has been repeatedly charged with mischief and violating court orders at abortion clinics, was nominated for the medal by Saskatchewan Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott.

Vellacott told LifeSiteNews that he had arranged to have Wagner given a medal for “using civil disobedience to further a just cause.” I’m afraid this reflects the intellectual calibre of the pro-life movement very accurately. “Civil disobedience” implies a passive or negative resistance to the state, a non-violent refusal to comply with a law: the seminal example was Thoreau’s refusal to pay taxes to a warmongering government. When a pro-life protester invades a “bubble zone” around a private abortion clinic to express an anti-abortion message, that might, by a generous extension of principles, be considered an act of civil disobedience. I’m afraid Mary Wagner went just a little further than the phrase will allow.

…the appellant appeared at the Bloor West Village Women’s Clinic mid-morning on November 8, 2011, and somehow gained entry to the electronically controlled, secure waiting room of the Clinic. It is common ground that she was not welcome. Abortions are performed at the Clinic and the appellant is opposed to abortion. Once inside, she began talking to the patients who were in the waiting room. While no one testified as to what the appellant said to these patients, it is safe to assume that, as some of them ended up distressed and crying, the appellant was speaking to them about abortion.

Patricia Hasen, part-owner and employee of the Women’s Clinic, summoned the police and asked the appellant to leave the premises. She did not leave. The trial judge concluded, based on this evidence, that the appellant became, at least at that point, a trespasser on the premises. When Ms. Hasen tried to ameliorate the situation by moving her patients into a secure interior area of the Clinic, the appellant tried to follow. This led to something of a struggle at the doorway, with Ms. Hasen trying to close the door leading to this interior area, and the appellant trying to keep the door open so she too could enter this area. During this struggle, Ms. Hasen demanded several times that the appellant release the door. Eventually, Ms. Hasen was able to shut and secure the door.

“Civil disobedience” that involves invading a private premises and tussling with the people therein? Hey, why not steal the flat-screen TV and the good drugs while you’re in there? Thoreau would puke. Whenever I have a go at the pro-life movement I always get e-mails and comments from pro-lifers who insist that most of them are sane, sensible, and peaceful. I’m sure it’s true. In fact, I know it is. It’s also sort of irrelevant: if the pro-life movement cannot distinguish crazy people from sane ones, to the point of suffering from an irresistible propensity for making hero-martyrs out of the former, then it can expect to be treated as a social blight.

‘They are the real heroes of humanity!’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 1:50 PM - 0 Comments

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was asked this morning about Maurice Vellacott’s awarding of two Diamond Jubilee medals to anti-abortion activists, one of whom is currently in prison. And now Mr. Vellacott’s office has sent out a news release.

Additional info regarding Vellacott’s Jubilee medals to human rights reformers Mary Wagner and Linda Gibbons

Unlike the Justice Minister, Vellacott was unable to award these medals to the victims of crime, because these baby victims are dead, so instead the award to those “heroines of humanity” Mary Wagner and Linda Gibbons who are trying to protect defenseless, voiceless human beings in the womb from butchery and death, and trying to let vulnerable women know that there are other options and support and adoption possibilities. It’s what you would expect in a caring compassionate society.

It’s a pretty upside down world when we honor abortionists like Henry Morgentaler for killing over 5000 babies and imprison precious women, like Mary Wagner and Linda Gibbons, who try to save babies from such savagery. They are the real heroes of humanity!

The citation on the certificate Mr. Vellacott gave to Mary Wagner along with the Diamond Jubilee medal read as follows: “Mary Wagner Your faithful battle for justice for pre-born children, with your willingness to suffer hardship and personal deprivation, is a source of strength and inspiration for many. May God richly bless your sacrifice for these most innocent victims.”

The citation on the certificate Mr. Vellacott gave to Linda Gibbons along with the Diamond Jubilee medal read as follows: “Your faithful, undying battle for justice for pre-born children – at great personal sacrifice – is a witness to all and a source of strength for many. May God richly bless your undying service for these most innocent victims and may your legacy never be forgotten.”

Maurice Vellacott said, “Like Martin Luther King and other human rights reformers, Mary is using civil disobedience to further a just cause. Peaceful civil disobedience is an appropriate method when trying to protect defenseless, voiceless human beings in the womb from butchery and death.”

Footnotes to the release point out that Mr. Morgentaler, who is a member of the Order of Canada, served time in prison.

‘Like Martin Luther King and other human rights reformers’

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 9:00 AM - 0 Comments

Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott awarded two Diamond Jubilee medals to anti-abortion activists, one of whom is currently in prison.

Mary Wagner, 38, who has been repeatedly charged with mischief and violating court orders at abortion clinics, was nominated for the medal by Saskatchewan Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott. Another Jubilee medal went to Linda Gibbons, a Toronto grandmother who has been charged numerous times for breaching the court-ordered “bubble zones” around clinics. Vellacott likened the two women to U.S. civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr…

Wagner is being held at a correctional facility for women in Milton, Ont., pending her next court appearance on charges of violating the terms of her probation. She was arrested at a Toronto abortion clinic in August and is awaiting trial. Wagner was previously convicted of mischief and two counts of breaching probation for entering the Bloor Street West Village Women’s Clinic in November 2011 and approaching patients in the waiting room. At the time, she was on probation for a previous mischief charge and had been prohibited from coming within 200 metres of the clinic or contacting its staff.

LifeSiteNews.com’s report is here.

Pro-life, but voting against Motion 312

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, September 25, 2012 at 4:00 PM - 0 Comments

Liberal MP Sean Casey says he’ll be voting no on Motion 312.

As a public figure, I naturally struggle when divisive issues are placed before Parliament. In this case, it is an issue that is deeply personal on both sides.

I am pro-life.

However, I have decided that my personal views will not come first. I listened to my constituents and will oppose Motion 312. This has not been an easy decision.

Since this motion was presented, several months ago, I have had countless discussions and correspondence with constituents. It is clear that the majority of residents in Charlottetown are opposed to this Motion and against reopening the debate on abortion.

I want to thank those who contacted me on both sides of the debate. I value debate in Canada and am grateful that the people of Charlottetown are engaged in public policy and political life.

I will vote against knowing some might view this as a compromise of my personal beliefs, but any judgements in that regard will be between me and my faith.

The CBC counts Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro, Leon Benoit and Maurice Vellacott as supporting the motion.

Somebody to blame

By Aaron Wherry - Tuesday, March 6, 2012 at 10:00 AM - 0 Comments

Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott says Elections Canada is “significantly responsible” for the confusion, but the Canadian Press notes that Elections Canada asked parties to refrain from calling voters with polling station information.

In its statutory report following the 2011 campaign, released last August, Elections Canada highlighted the incident in a separate box. ”Because a polling site can be replaced by another at the last minute, and to ensure that electors always have access to the most accurate information regarding their location, Elections Canada indicated to political parties that the list supplied should only be used for internal purposes and that parties should not direct electors to polling sites,” said the report.

All parties were instructed to tell voters to check Elections Canada’s website or their voter information card for poll locations “to prevent electors from being directed to incorrect polling sites.” ”Some political parties did not comply with this request,” said the report.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives are demanding that the Liberals release their phone records. But while the Liberals are happy to do so, the Conservatives aren’t willing to do likewise.

‘Abortions by another name’

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, September 30, 2011 at 2:35 PM - 19 Comments

Following Brad Trost, Conservative backbencher Maurice Vellacott laments the government’s decision to partner with Planned Parenthood.

“Even in those countries where abortion is technically illegal, it’s naïve to think that Canadian tax dollars are not being used to promote abortion. One of IPPF’s main publicly stated goals is to aggressively dismantle abortion laws in each country around the globe and have abortion recognized as a universal human right.

“Under the guise of ‘education’ Canadian taxpayer dollars will be used to advance IPPF’s unfounded claims that abortion is necessary to prevent maternal deaths, when in fact abortion does great harm to women.”

Conservative MP Leon Benoit has tabled a private member’s bill that pursues Planned Parenthood from a different angle.

Since when?

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 11:55 AM - 11 Comments

Helena Guergis, responding yesterday to a question from Liberal Lise Zarac about Conservative Maurice Vellacott’s recent musings on abortion.

Mr. Speaker, I note for the member that all members of Parliament in the House are required to have their opinion.

Apropos of nothing

By Aaron Wherry - Friday, May 15, 2009 at 2:57 PM - 62 Comments

Excluding those born outside Canada, the following Conservative MPs have lived, studied or worked outside the country.

Jim Flaherty, Lisa Raitt, Brian Jean, Russ Hiebert, Jason Kenney, Maurice Vellacott, Mike Allen, Ray Boughen, Barry Devolin, Garry Breitkreuz, Ed Holder, Randy Kamp, Pierre Lemieux, Ben Lobb, Phil McColeman, Cathy McLeod, Scott Reid, Greg Rickford, Andrew Saxton and John Weston.

BTC: Amnesia

By Aaron Wherry - Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 10:58 AM - 0 Comments

A moment please for Peter MacKay.

It’s been almost two years now since he allegedly made canine reference to Belinda Stronach, but still, whenever discussion turns to sexism in Canadian politics, his is the standard that is cited as precedent. And this time he has only to look across the cabinet table and ask why Rona Ambrose was apparently unable to resist calling into question Stéphane Dion and the entire Liberal party in demanding Robert Thibault apologize, thereby making such comparisons inevitable.

But MacKay, in his eternal defence, is hardly alone in this glass house Ms. Ambrose (who, herself, once demeaned Ken Dryden’s age, race and gender) has neatly constructed. Maurice Vellacott resolutely remains a member of Conservative caucus despite his questionable comments on the matter of Ms. Stronach. As does Monte Solberg. 

Mind you, the latter’s comments are not so easily referenced, published as they were on a blog that is long ago defunct. In fairness then to Mr. MacKay and so that Mr. Solberg might get his due credit, we reprint them here.

Continue…

BTC: Roll call

By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, July 3, 2008 at 8:06 PM - 0 Comments

Not that anyone’s currently around to hold a vote. Nor that there could be a vote—or at least one that could matter. But for those of you keeping score at home, here’s a breakdown of those MPs who’ve spoken publicly about the appointment of Dr. Morgentaler. Continue…