Liberal moves push Conservative leadership hopefuls on abortion and gun control

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This article was published 10/05/2022 (863 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Hours before the first official Conservative leadership debate, the Liberal government turned its sights on abortion and gun control Wednesday, drawing new attention to wedge issues that have emerged in the race to become the next Tory leader.

In an afternoon announcement, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Ottawa has earmarked more than $3.5 million for initiatives run by Action Canada for Sexual Health and Rights and the National Abortion Federation Canada to provide financial aid to those seeking long-distance abortion services and funding to train health-care workers offering abortion care.

“These investments reflect our belief that women and women alone have the right to make decisions about their bodies,” Duclos said.

His comments came on the heels of an announcement by Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino about changes to the rules regarding the sale and transfer of non-restricted firearms.

As of May 18, individuals and businesses must confirm the recipient’s identity and the validity of their license with the registrar of firearms before transferring a gun. Businesses will also be required to keep sales records related to non-restricted firearms, which include certain rifles or shotguns. Most long guns are non-restricted, according to the RCMP.

Neither announcement was entirely new; while the funding for abortion services was not linked to specific organizations at the time, the money comes from a $45-million pledge in the 2021 federal budget. The regulations on non-restricted firearms also first appeared in two orders-in-council dated April 29.

That prompted questions over whether the Liberals were attempting to spark tension in the Conservative leadership race on the same day that the six candidates were set to face off in an English-language debate in Edmonton.

“As conservatives continue to step up their pattern of negative attacks and divisive politics, it’s as important as ever that our Liberal team stays focused on delivering the progressive policies Canadians voted for in the last election,” read a Liberal fundraising email sent late Wednesday afternoon, which also made note of the impending leadership debate.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters Wednesday, however, that his government had already been working to improve abortion access issues “for a long time.”

“Whether it’s ensuring access to abortion across the country or whether it’s ensuring better transparency and accountability on the sale of restricted firearms, these are things that matter to Canadians that we’re going to continue to work on,” he said.

Mendicino also rejected the notion that the debate factored into his announcement, but said he would leave it to Conservatives “to defend their record and their policies and their strategies — or absence thereof — when it comes to gun violence.

“That’s not why we’re here today. We’re here today to mark the next important milestone in addressing gun violence and making our community safer,” the minister said.

Although law and order was one of the topics up for discussion for Wednesday’s debate, clashes between candidates on gun control have been minimal so far. Jean Charest has said he wouldn’t change Canada’s gun laws, including a regulation introduced by the Liberal government that banned some 1,500 types of “assault-style” weapons. That, plus Charest’s past support for the long-gun registry, has drawn attacks from firearms groups and leadership front-runner Pierre Poilievre.

The Liberals seized upon some of that dissension within the Conservative party during last year’s federal election campaign, pouncing on then-leader Erin O’Toole for flip-flopping on whether he would maintain the Liberals’ list of prohibited firearms.

But the question of where the Tory leadership candidates stand on abortion has already landed on the debate stage, cropping up in a fiery, unofficial sparring match between hopefuls in the nation’s capital last week.

Anti-abortion candidate Leslyn Lewis accused Poilievre of “running from” social conservative issues such as abortion, something Poilievre’s campaign has said he would not seek to restrict.

Debate over the issue has been renewed in Canada since last week’s leaked U.S. Supreme Court draft decision on abortion rights. The draft opinion indicated that the United States’ top court could overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, which ruled that women have a constitutional right to abortion.

Canada’s Supreme Court struck down this country’s law criminalizing abortion as unconstitutional in 1988, although it remains up to the provinces and territories to determine how and where the procedure is made available.

Lewis’s stance on abortion was singled out by the Campaign Life Coalition on Wednesday morning, ahead of the anti-abortion group’s annual march on Parliament Hill Thursday.

“We fully support her. She has a green light rating from the Campaign Life Coalition,” said political operations director Jack Fonseca.

Duclos said neither the U.S. draft opinion nor disagreement within the Conservative party over abortion access played into his decision to discuss funding for reproductive health services.

“Every day is a good day, especially in the international context in which we’re living … to speak and to act on that matter,” he said.

With files from Jacques Gallant

Raisa Patel is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @R_SPatel