A motion tabled by Toronto-Centre Liberal MP Bob Rae never explicitly used the word abortion but it did use language that made it clear abortion is what the motion was all about. Several Liberals were unhappy.
One pro-life Liberal MP told me he contacted Ignatieff鱿鱼视频app office to discuss the issue but did not hear back. Several did hear from voters, though, and that, says Paul Szabo from Mississauga, is why he voted against his leader and party and with the government to defeat the motion.
Two other Liberals from the Toronto area voted against the motion, Dan McTeague of Pickering and John McKay of Scarborough; 14 other Liberals abstained or did not show up, enough to see the motion defeated 144-138.
Yet, if a pre-vote emergency meeting of the Conservative Party had turned out differently, those three Liberals may have ended up as the only MPs voting against the motion. The day before the vote, rumours began circulating around Parliament Hill that the government would whip the vote in favour of the opposition motion. All Conservatives present in the House 鈥� pro-life MPs would have permission to stay away 鈥� would be forced to vote for it. Several sources said the prime minister鱿鱼视频app chief of staff, Guy Giorno, was behind this strategy. The prime minister鱿鱼视频app office argued that since the motion did not explicitly mention abortion, it was okay to vote in favour. Pro-life MPs argued differently.
At an emergency caucus meeting before the vote, pro-life Conservatives convinced their pro-choice colleagues that the party should not back a motion that contradicted Harper鱿鱼视频app public pledge to exclude abortion in his maternal health care plan. In the end, Harper changed his mind, reportedly quoting 19th-century French politician Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin: 鈥淭here go my people. I must find out where they鈥檙e going so I can lead them.鈥�
Ignatieff says he and his party will continue to fight to have any plan to save the lives of mothers and children in the developing world include abortion.
Such a move seems destined to only further the trend of the Liberals losing their once-solid hold of votes from Mass-attending Catholics, 49 per cent of whom now vote Conservative according to Angus Reid polling.
Harper continues to walk the line of avoiding taking a stand 鈥� trying not to be regarded as overtly pro-life but doing just enough so that pro-life voters will support his party. It鱿鱼视频app a game that could backfire, and surely would have if his emergency caucus meeting had gone another way.
Amid the fracas over what shape Canada鱿鱼视频app maternal health care strategy will take, it is important to remember that the actions and positions of the Liberals and Conservatives are driven as much by domestic political considerations as anything else. The Liberals believe that appealing to women necessitates being pro-abortion. The Conservatives, meanwhile, hope to attract religious-minded voters, viewed as pro-life, without giving them anything the Liberals could construe as a right-wing 鈥渉idden agenda鈥� to take away 鈥渁bortion rights.鈥�
So expect to see this so-called 鈥渟ettled鈥� issue of maternal care play a large role in the next election as the priority of both sides is less about helping women in the developing world as gaining your vote.
(Brian Lilley is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for Newstalk 1010 Toronto and CJAD 800 Montreal.)