CALGARY, AB November 4, 2013 (CCRL) – Three resolutions passed at the recent Conservative party national convention in Calgary illustrate the importance of participating in the party of one’s choice as a way to advance ideas that may lead to change.
Delegates voted in favour of policies that would outlaw euthanasia and assisted suicide, crack down on those who exploit sex workers, and denounced sex-selective abortion. The third is particularly interesting since a motion along those lines was deemed unvoteable in last year’s parliament, suggesting that the grass roots of the party may be closer to voter’s wishes than some of the elected officials.
The motion that the party “condemns discrimination against girls through gender selection,” was passed while supporters of the resolution circulated outside waving neon pink placards.
“Our prime minister, Stephen Harper, said that in this world you have to have values,” Rosey Rosenke, executive director of Alberta Pro-Life, told the Calgary Herald. “We want to stand up for baby girls that are being terminated.”
Sex-selective abortion has proven to be a contentious issue in the House of Commons; MP Mark Warawa has supported several motions to debate the matter, but has been blocked. He dropped his most recent bid to condemn the practice in April.
Standing in stark contrast to the increasingly liberal attitudes towards euthanasia in Quebec, the Conservatives adopted a straightforward opposition to all legislation intended to legalize assisted suicide. This was not surprising since senior cabinet ministers have recently stated that the party does not support any change to Canada’s euthanasia and assisted suicide laws.
The Conservatives also voted to support the rights of faith-based organizations to refuse to rent out their facilities to groups or entities who oppose their beliefs.
Meanwhile, despite the efforts of anonymous pamphleteers to encourage “sane prostitution laws,” the party rejected the concept of “legalizing the purchase of sex,” while developing a plan to target johns and human traffickers. This policy would be based on the “Nordic model” developed in Sweden, where purchasers and traffickers are prosecuted but rarely the prostitutes themselves. Whatever the decision in the Supreme Court of Canada appeal of Canada’s prostitution laws, in which the League is an intervener, many believe Canada needs a new legislative model that would discourage prostitution and offer better protection to those victimized by it.
The League is a non-partisan organization and has always encouraged its members to get involved in the party of their choice to help put forward policies that further a Catholic understanding of society and family life.
– Tories firm in opposition to euthanasia, gendercide, Catholic Register, November 7, 2013