The Catholics Are Attacking!

Canada’s national Catholic news magazine, Catholic Insight, which I have written about on several occasions, has issued a call for the "defeat and removal" of Stephen Harper in his Calgary Southwest riding:

“For Mr. Harper to state that he would not personally support a law limiting abortion is one thing,” said de Valk. “But to go so far as to strong arm his own MPs from supporting the right to life and even, as his spokesperson suggested, whip his cabinet on the matter, is unconscionable.”

Yeah, good luck with that. But nevertheless more evidence that all is not well with Stephen Harper's Conservative base. who are seeing their issues (abortion, HRCs) frozen out of the debate this election cycle. It will be interesting to observe the practical effect of a SoCon revolt, esp. if the election tightens up. Could these guys casting protest votes swing the result in, for example, Ontario exurban swing ridings?

Tory Abortion Bill Not Dead Yet!

A small group of Tory Rebs have issued a press release in which they state that

"We, the undersigned, will continue to use all the legislative avenues at our disposal to ensure the successful passage of The Unborn Victims of Crime Act into law. We look forward to supporting Mr. Epp's bill at third reading."

The Rebs in question:

David Anderson, MP, Cypress Hills-Grasslands
Rod Bruinooge, MP, Winnipeg South
Royal Galipeau, MP, Ottawa-Orléans
Colin Mayes, MP, Okanagan-Shuswap
Myron Thompson, MP, Wild Rose
Brad Trost, MP, Saskatoon-Humboldt
Maurice Vellacott, MP, Saskatoon-Wanuskewin
Chris Warkentin, MP, Peace River

Pretty much a subset of the usual suspects. But what should it matter if the Tories plan to withdraw the legislation? It shouldn't matter, except that the Tories have no such plans. Dean Allison's office confessed as much to one Tory Blogger yesterday.

The Conservatives are not abandoning or distancing themselves from Bill C-484 or abortion. In fact, it is a mistake to view Nicholson's recently proposed alternative as such. The guy I spoke to over the phone suggested that the Conservatives do not think that Epp's bill will pass in the house, given the fact they only have a minority and the recent inappropriate focus on abortion by a small group of extremists who have totally misrepresented the bill. He said that both the Bloc and the NDP will be voting against the bill and most Liberals are likely to either do the same or simply not show up to vote. If that is the case, then it's hard to see how Epp's bill could pass.

Nicholson's bill is intended to provide the same protection to pregnant women, should Epp's bill not pass.If Epp's bill does pass, and both I and the guy on the phone hope it does, then great.

My MP will be voting in support of Epp's bill.

Despite efforts re getting abortion off the table as an election issue, the Tories have left C-484 still in play. In addition, they have thrown another bill into the mix which, when it is finally introduced, will apparently resemble Liberal MP Brent St. Denis's Bill C-543.


This fight is not over.

Christian Terror At Austin Clinic?

From the Houstin Chronicle (chron.com):

AUSTIN — A package left at a women's clinic that performs abortions contained an explosive device capable of inflicting serious injury or death, investigators said today.

Christian Conservative terror groups tend to ramp up activity in times of Peace when there is no external enemy against which to expend their zealotry. With Iraq winding down, the question is will the U.S. start to see more of this kind of thing? And, from a Canadian point of view, will some of the violence leak over our border, as happened during the last go round? If so, I'd advocate making Christians wear little blue hats so normal, decent folk can hide when we see them coming.