For a few moments during his town hall meeting in Winnipeg, the normally composed Justin Trudeau completely lost his cool.
It was in response to a shouted question about the Liberal Party’s insertion of an “abortion clause” into the application process for the Canada Summer Jobs Program, which has resulted in a rising backlash from religious groups, charities, non-profit organizations and—surprisingly, the media. At an earlier town hall, Trudeau had now infamously waved the concerns of Canadians off as a mere “kerfuffle.” This time, he was ready to fire off his righteous indignation on all cylinders.
The issue, he noted with a rising voice, has been “a little in the news lately,” which is only slightly less of an understatement than referring to the backlash as a “kerfuffle.” In fact, editorial boards right across the country—from the infamously left-wing Toronto Star to the Ottawa Citizen and beyond—have condemned the attestation as an attack on diversity and an example of Liberal hubris. The Liberal justification for their move was that abortion is a “Charter right”—and for the first time in years, media sources across the board came out and collectively reminded Canadians that there is no Charter right to abortion, Canada has no abortion laws at all, and that Parliament has every right to reconsider the issue.
Trudeau and his people are frustrated because they never realized how many Canadians disagreed with them on issues like abortion, and thus did not expect religious groups of every stripe to stand up in opposition to them. And so Trudeau attempted to reframe the debate again, referring to the Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform specifically as a pro-life organization he was attempting to target. His Employment Minister Patty Hadju had tried the same tactic earlier in the week during Question Period in the House of Commons, explaining that it was pro-life groups like CCBR that they were really trying to get at—and that religious groups who have been attempting to explain to the government that their consciences did not permit them to sign off on the attestation needed to get over their ethical qualms and just check the box already!
Trudeau echoed Hadju, announcing loudly to the crowd that, “No religious group is going to be barred from the Canada Summer Jobs on the basis of their beliefs, period. Anyone who tells you otherwise is pushing a political agenda.” This is a very interesting thing for Mr. Trudeau to say. Is he saying that the Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, and Christian leaders who met in Toronto to express their concerns are all Conservative Party hacks simply trying to attack him politically? Is he saying that their sincere attempts to explain why the Liberal attestation will violate their conscience is simply a Trojan horse for Trudeau-bashing?
The last several weeks have indicated that Trudeau’s Liberals are aware that a Canadian public that is truly informed about the reality of Canada’s abortion regime is supremely dangerous to them, which is why they have decided to attack pro-life groups by name.
Trudeau’s ideological agenda on abortion depends on widespread ignorance for widespread support, and so when religious leaders from across the country and from almost every faith tell him that they cannot in good conscience support abortion, Trudeau refuses to respect the diversity of the country he leads. Not a very tolerant liberal, it would seem.
Instead, he essentially calls those men and women liars—and claims that they have a “political agenda” that they are pushing. He goes on to accuse conservatives of keeping women from abortion 'rights' and gays from LBGT inclusion rights. Really?
[UPDATE: Justin Trudeau interrupts woman to tell her to use 'peoplekind' instead of 'mankind' because 'it's more inclusive']
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"When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan" (Proverbs 29:2).