Ambrose votes pro-life; Immigration Committee invites white supremacists.
by Ish Theilheimer and Samantha Bayard, with YouTube video by Samantha Bayard
OTTAWA, September 27, 2012, Straight Goods News — Women's minister Rona Ambrose drew fire today for voting — and being allowed to vote — in favour of Conservative backbencher Stephen Woodworth's anti-abortion Motion 312. Her only explanation has come via tweet:"I have repeatedly raised concerns about discrimination of girls by sex selection abortion: no law needed, but we need awareness!" she posted after the vote Wednesday night.
NDP caucus co-chair Libby Davies (Vancouver East) was outraged. "This motion was clearly about undermining women’s equality, reproductive rights," she told reporters. "That's been very clear from Day One and I think that’s how the vote was taken. So I think she can rationalize it all she wants, but as the minister responsible for the status of women, she clearly betrayed the women of this country by not standing up… I was really surprised when I saw her vote for the motion. I don’t buy her argument at all."
Stephen Harper went to New York to receive a "World Statesman" award from the pro-Israel Appeal of Conscience this week but alarmed critics when he ducked the opportunity to address the UN's General Assembly. Presenting the award, Henry Kissinger called Harper " a great friend of the United States." Harper's speech criticized Iran and also the UN. NDP foreign affairs critic Paul Dewar said "I think it’s indicative of this government right now, when it comes to the United Nations, it seems to treat the United Nations as something that is more of an irritant, frankly, than a constructive place for finding solutions to very complicated problems."
The government's image was further eroded today with news the Conservatives had invited members of an anti-immigrant racist group called Canadian Immigration Forum (CIF) to Parliament's immigration committee. "The group's website… features a prominent picture and positive statement about the Minister of Immigration [and] defends white supremacism and includes a section called “chinafication”," NDP MP Jinny Sims (NewtonNorth Delta) said in Question Period. "Conservatives defended calling this group to committee. Even a cursory look shows the group should not have been invited."
Immigration minister Jason Kenney, clearly nettled, defended himself by attacking, calling Sim's comments "McCarthyite demogogary."
Sims shot back, "We did not invite racists to committee. We did not vote to take away a woman's right to choose. That was the Conservatives, including the Minister for Status of Women. To quote from the writings of the CIF 'This hate on for National Socialism is completely misguided… there is nothing inherently wrong with it at all.' Conservatives even tried to defend these witnesses."
Meanwhile, Liberal Kevin Lamoureux (Winnipeg North) took the government to task because all six government members of the immigration committee voted down his motion to study the effects of cuts to refugee health care. "Front-line doctors who treat refugees wrote to the committee members, asking for the opportunity to come to the committee to detail proof of the adverse outcomes of the reckless policy decision. My question to the minister is, what is the government afraid to hear?" he asked.
About Ish Theilheimer and Samantha Bayard
Ish Theilheimer is founder and publisher of SG News and lives in Golden Lake, ON. Samantha Bayard is an Ottawa reporter and an editorial and administrative assistant at SGNews.
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