An Open Letter To Stephen Harper

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada

Dear Sir:

The people of Canada have just given you the majority government for which you asked. Congratulations on your accomplishment! Looking back over the events of the past eight years, it is hard to believe that the Parties representing the right have moved from being fractured and largely ineffective to a majority in the House of Commons. Please don't forget from whence you came.

With power comes great responsibility. Canada is a wonderful country, and deserves the very best of its civil servants - there is a reason our elected representatives are called ministers. The previous House was known for its rancour and disrespect. I urge you, now that you have a majority, to lead the way in modelling decorum and cooperation. While there may be a part of you that wants to gloat over your adversaries, please rise above the pettiness and set a new standard for civility.

Many of us have watched your rise to power, accomplished partly by keeping a tight rein on your caucus and by limiting discussion to those issues not deemed offensive by the political center. While this has helped you to succeed in gaining power, I am not certain that it has served democracy well. There are a large number of Canadians on the right who feel disenfranchised. I am one of them. Many voted for you because your party was the least offensive of the electable options. But where do we go from here?

I know, for example, that you have promised not to bring forward a bill to limit abortion, and you have even pledged that your government would defeat any private members bill attempting to do this. This is in spite of the fact that Canada is the only country in the developed world with no abortion law. Political expediency is not a valid excuse to not do the right thing.

We elect people to parliament to represent us. Now that your party has succeeded in breaking the back of those who accused you of having a "secret agenda," can we please have a return to serious debate? Sometimes democracy is messy. Sometimes party members will say and do the wrong thing - regardless of party affiliation. But let us, at least, take the muzzles off and let all of the voices be heard and let the arguments be decided on merit.

You have just run an effective campaign and been granted a majority. You have clearly laid out your platform and now have the mandate to accomplish it. As you do so, remember that you are not given power merely to hold power. As Abraham Lincoln said, “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.” I truly hope that your character can withstand the rigours of power. Please sir, let your time in parliament be known for its commitment to democratic process and a commitment to do the right thing.

I truly wish you all the best, and my prayers are with you.

Yours respectfully,

Tony denBok

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I've been following the Canadian election news waiting for this story to break. It happens every election, but usually it is driven by the left-of-centre Canadian parties. The gist of the story is that you can't elect the Conservatives because they have a "secret agenda" to end abortion in Canada. This time the story didn't come from a left-wing source, but rather from one of Harper's own MPs.

Brad Trost, while speaking to a gathering of pro-lifers, said that their petitions and lobbying had helped to bring about the de-funding of Planned Parenthood by the Canadian government. Planned Parenthood, while providing other services to women, is one of the largest abortion suppliers in the world. In the U.S. alone, they provided 332,278 abortions in 2009. Planned Parenthood claims that abortions represent only a small percentage of the services that they provide, however, those claims are misleading. In 2007, Charlotte Allen explained that Planned Parenthood (at least its U.S. branch) bundles services for the purpose of minimizing the role of abortions. For more on this go here.

All of that is besides the point. The problem with this story is that it is simply not true. Paul Bell, a spokesman for the International Planned Parenthood Federation, states that: "It's certainly what Brad Trost seems to think. It's certainly what some political parties seem to think, but that's not what we've been told." In fact, IPPF submitted a new application for funding but the election was called, interrupting the process. Stephen Harper has repeatedly gone out of his way, to my great frustration, to say that not only will his party not bring forward legislation to limit abortion, they will defeat any private members bill which attempts to do so.

This won't stop Igatieff, et al, of trying to make political hay out of the issue. The Liberal Leader responded by saying that "Everyone who cares about women's rights has to rise up to stop Mr. Harper." He says this in spite of the fact that there are pro-life Members of Parliament in other parties, including his own. (Szabo, McTeague and McKay to name three). Brian Lilley rightly states in a recent article that: "This isn't a religious or moral view - it's science. Thanks to new technologies, including 3D ultrasounds, we know much more now about how a child grows in the womb and the stages of development than when Canada's abortion laws were struck down in 1988... Life truly does begin at conception."

Simply put, this issue which many of us believe is of vital importance, is not on the agenda of any of the major political parties in Canada. That is because the issue would be poison to the Conservative party, who have decided that the lives of unborn children are not as important as forming a government. The other major parties would seem to fall on the side of preferring unrestricted, fully-funded, access to abortion for all Canadian women. I think all of them have stuck their heads in the sand.

As Lilley says, "Canada remains the only major industrialized nation without any restrictions on abortion." We're not moderate, we're anti-life to the extreme! When it is legal to kill a child who could easily survive outside of his/her mother's womb, we have a major problem as a civilized society. As I've said before, I believe it's schizophrenic to do surgery in utero to save a babies life on one floor of a hospital, yet to abort a child of the same gestation on the other. What makes a child human? The fact that his mother wants him? Is that really the position we want to hold on to?

It's my firm belief that the problem in Canada is not that people are that cold-hearted; I believe that many are simply ignorant of the facts. I speak with many who are surprised to find that there is no limit to abortion in Canada. I speak to others who are unaware of the scientific and technological advances like 3D ultrasounds, or advancements in medicine that have greatly advanced viability. I think (hope) that, presented with the facts, most Canadians would take a far more moderate position than that which is currently the status quo. According to a 2006 Environics poll, 64% of Canadians were in favour of some form of protection for the unborn.

All that being said, there is no real political home for pro-life Canadians among major political parties. Harper has made it clear that, as long as he leads the party, this issue will not be allowed to be raised. It has clearly been sacrificed on the altar of political expediency. The problem is that "it" is not just another issue like universal daycare or the HST, "it" represents hundreds of thousands of young Canadian lives. For all of the good things that could be said about this beautiful country, for this, we should be ashamed.

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