Liberal Confusion re: Nomination Process

According to the Toronto Star and other publications, Justin Trudeau says people seeking a Liberal nomination will be subject to questioning regarding conscience issues, and if they aren't in line with party thinking, they will be excluded from running in 2015:

Trudeau says that while the Liberal party has always tried to appeal across a broad range of the political spectrum when it comes to economics, he does not believe it’s too much to ask MPs to embrace the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is, in fact, part of the screening process for new candidates.

“We check on a number of issues: how do you feel about the Charter of Rights and freedoms, how do you feel about same-sex marriage, how do you feel about pro-choice, where are you on that?” Trudeau said.

“And we make sure that the people who are stepping forward are consistent with the Liberal Party as it is now, as it stands under my leadership and under the feedback we’re getting from Canadians across the country.”

This morning I had a twitter conversation with Gerard Butts, a close policy advisor of Trudeau's, who seemed to be unaware of this fact. He stated on Twitter that it is not what a person believes that matters, it's how they will vote on the issue in Parliament.

Although Butts has been active on Twitter since I posed the question to him (twice) about whether potential nominees could declare themselves pro-choice and still be allowed to run for nomination or serve as an MP in the Liberal Party, *crickets*.

Butts' original Tweet tagged the National  Post:

The @nationalpost has also been told, repeatedly, that the policy applies to votes in Parliament, not personal belief, but has ignored that.

So it seems clear in his opinion, that under this new Liberal edict, that a person may follow their conscience (in their private lives) so long as they are aware they must vote along party lines if it ever comes to a vote. When asked directly if that was the case, he simply ignored the question. I guess he isn't as sure as he seemed to be.

Perhaps Gerard Butts believed the question had been asked and answered, but when his position is at odds with that of the Liberal leader, the Liberal position is about as clear as mud.

Regardless, I believe abortion is a conscience, not a rights issue and that people should not have to check their brains at the door of the House of Commons. Some people do that anyway.

Canadianna

Libs have the answer, refuse to use it

The Liberals have no official policy on abortion. The Conservatives do. Anyone who's paid attention these past few years knows that at the policy convention in 2005, the Conservative Party held that:

58. Abortion Legislation
A Conservative Government will not support any legislation to regulate abortion.

The Liberals have never made such a promise.

Now, some would say that this declaration allows a private member to put forward a bill, and that scoundrel Harper would allow his MPs to vote their conscience. What trickery! This would mean the deciding votes to institute an abortion law would have to come from the Liberals (because the Conservative Party is not 100% social conservatives and you'd never get enough from the NDP or Bloc).

I think what bothers the Liberals most is that they know that it would be the votes of their members that have the potential to regulate abortion in Canada. Scandalous!

It is unlikely that the Conservative Party alone would ever have enough votes to change the status of abortion or same-sex marriage or any other socially contentious issue. That means they'd need support from members of another party . . . Maybe the Liberals should actually make it Liberal policy that they will neither introduce nor vote for any abortion legislation brought before parliament. In one fell swoop they could thwart the secret evil social-conservative cabal in government.

Oh damn. Too simple. How could the Liberals even have a chance if they couldn't scream *hidden agenda*? They might have to think up new policy or something novel like that.

canadianna

You won't recognize Canada . . .

I think we've heard this song before.

Click the title link and read, as Warren Kinsella pulls out the same worn and tired Liberal red herrings as in 2006. What a shock. I thought hope, not fear, won elections. Who knew?

When the Liberals grasped at straws in 2006, suggesting that a Conservative win would make the sky crash, I wrote this (links to the post -- Activist Judges? Never).

Funny how the Liberals silly bag of tricks never holds anything new. Whether it's their promises, like Universal Child Care or their tactics, like scaring Canada into hating Harper (links to the post -- Defending Stephen Harper) or worse, trying to vilify a whole segment of Canadians for their core values (links to the post -- Expressing my views and advancing my cause) Liberals never seem to get bored with the idea that Canadians are too lazy to think.

Despite Kinsella's regurgitating old canards, Stephen Harper isn't stupid enough to dredge up dead social issues like same-sex marriage or abortion despite his personal beliefs on those issues. I think he and Conservatives believe they're done deals and that Canadians have other priorities. As for the death penalty, if that was in his nefarious plans, why build more jails when you're just gonna kill 'em all? And many rational, centrist Canadians agree with Harper on the long gun registry -- so as scary as going back to the days when farmers and hunters were running amok with unregistered guns, a lot of Canadians are okay if we revisit that.

The only ones scared right now are the Liberals.

Warren, you're starting to sound like a dinosaur.

Canadianna