Diversity is about celebrating (or at least tolerating) differences between people. These differences can include things such as race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, political beliefs, religion and cultural practices.
As Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau often champions the idea that diversity is Canada’s strength. However, the Liberal government’s changes to the Canada Summer Jobs program reveal that on the matter of abortion, Trudeau has zero tolerance for ideological diversity.
In December 2017, the Liberal government made a radical change to the Canada Summer Jobs program. Any organization that applies for funding is required to sign an attestation stating that their core mandate “must respect … the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” including “reproductive [abortion] rights.”
Signing the attestation is a violation of a pro-life person’s conscience. (If you believe that abortion is the killing of an innocent human being, you cannot declare your “respect” for it).
The Liberal government’s ideological test has resulted in over 1,500 organizations having their applications rejected, a 1,200% increase over 2017. Any church or pro-life group that refused to sign the attestation did not receive funding. Justin Trudeau said the government should not be funding groups that want to “roll back the clock on women’s rights.”
Abortion is and always will be a conscience issue. While a majority of Canadians support a woman’s right to have an abortion, a 2017 poll found that 24% believe there should be some limits placed on that right.
Contrary to popular belief, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not give women an “unlimited” right to an abortion. In 1988, the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s abortion law but said that the federal government has the right to place limits on abortion and invited Parliament to introduce new legislation. However, to this day, no law has yet been passed.
Justin Trudeau believes that pro-life groups are a threat to a woman’s right to choose. In reality, there is nothing any pro-life group can do to violate the Charter when it comes to a woman’s right to have an abortion.
Influencing public opinion on abortion is not a violation of the Charter. Lobbying the government to pass an abortion law is not a violation of the Charter. If any law is passed by Parliament that places limits on a woman’s right to choose, the Supreme Court will ultimately decide if it is constitutional or not.
Justin Trudeau has denied funding to pro-life groups because he doesn’t want any abortion law to be passed, not even one that would be consistent with the Charter. He believes that abortion should be an unlimited right with no restrictions whatsoever, including late-term abortions and sex-selective abortions.
In denying government funding to pro-life groups, Justin Trudeau hopes to weaken the pro-life movement in Canada. Ironically, he could end up strengthening it. When pro-life Canadians are punished by the government for acting according to their conscience, they are more likely to gain public sympathy.
Despite his lofty rhetoric, Justin Trudeau is not a champion of diversity. If he believed in ideological diversity, he would not discriminate against pro-life groups by denying them access to the Canada Summer Jobs program. When it comes to abortion, Trudeau wants ideological conformity: a signature trait of fascism.
Christopher Lindsay is the author of Letters from a Madman. Follow him on Twitter.
The vast majority of Canadians find Canada’s abortion laws reasonable and fair.
Late-term abortions are extremely rare. There may be no legislation, but doctors will not do the procedure after 21 weeks unless it is considered medically necessary. It is a red-herring and a straw man argument that convolutes the discussion to support the side of the no-abortion-ever contingent.
And, in regards to the Liberals Canada Summer Jobs Program, and religious organizations being discriminated against; LET’S NOT FORGET that religious organizations are tax-exempt, so they already get an incredibly large subsidy when it comes to benefiting from government’s rules.
What these organizations lose out on in regards to the Summer Jobs Program is a mere pittance compared to how much they benefit from not having to pay taxes on their income, even though those that contribute to a religious organization get to claim a tax deduction for their donation.
Wow, your argument went from praising Canada’s abortion situation to bashing churches on their tax free status. I think I found that nerve that rubs you the wrong way. Your comment is accurate but in one case misleading, second paragraph where you maintain churches get a “Subsidy” based on their tax free status. What subsidy do they get….they dont, you make it sound like they receive taxpayer money at the same time as being tax free. So churches have a tax free status due to their ability to do good things in their community, taking the pressure off to some degree, different levels of government.
Why is what I’ve said a “Wow”?
Is it praising “Canada’s abortion situation” to say that the vast majority of Canadians are okay with the rules currently in place and that doctors virtually never do a late-term abortion unless it is needed medically necessary?
Secondly, in a way, churches do receive taxpayer money because any money that is given to them is tax-deductible to the individual who donated the money. Therefore, taxes are not collected on that portion of the income that people donate to the church.
If donations were not tax-deductible, churches would most likely receive considerably less dollars in the way of donations because the tax savings on these donations can run around 40% for many people. So, the “general revenues” of the church are increased incredibly, and the amount of the Summer Jobs Program grant that they may now not qualify for is virtually immaterial compared to the benefit that accrues to the church as a result of the tax-deductibllity of donations by the donor.
I’m not completely okay with how donations to churches are treated for income tax purposes (because there is too much control in regards to how that money can be spent, just like some might complain that money given to mosques could be used in ways they may not approve of.
But, I believe that that was the price that had to be paid for the trade off needed to keep church and state separate, in that (I believe, but I could be wrong), churches are limited in regards to the political power they can try to wield) in regards to supporting specific political candidates.
Very rough estimate:
Say a person in the highest marginal tax bracket donates $10,000 to his church.
The Church gets $10,000, and the individual does not have to pay the to $4,200 income tax that would be owed to the government had he not made the donation (So, the government is out $4,200 in taxes that it would otherwise be entitled to collect).
If donations to a religious organization were not tax-deductible, then, to give $10,000 to the church, the individual would be out of pocket $14,200.
If the individual only wanted to be out of pocket $10,000 in total, that would mean that his donation to the church would only be $5,800, instead of $10,000 (with the other $4,200 being paid in income taxes).
So, because donations to a church as tax-deductible, in our example, the church is receiving a $4,200 “subsidy” which otherwise would be income tax revenue flowing to government to provide services to all Canadians (regardless of their religious beliefs).
Churches don’t receive taxpayer money, unless they apply for grants. Yes they can issue charitable tax receipts for donations. Yes they don’t pay property taxes, but that is not “receiving” taxpayer money anymore than someone who falls into the lowest income bracket “receives” taxpayer money from the taxpayer because he/she pays much much less income tax than those taxpayers in the highest tax bracket.
You actually have to receive other people’s money to have “received” money from taxpayers. It really is that simple. The State isn’t the owner of all the money in Canada and is generously gifting it to us meager peasants and our churches. Other taxpayers aren’t the owner of the money I receive via charitable tax receipts. That money received is money I “overpaid” into the system throughout the year.
You have no basis whatsoever to claim that most Canadians don`t want to see a new abortion law. In fact, polls say the opposite. Most Canadians would support some sort of abortion ban over 12 weeks of pregnancy.
OMG why librals are associated with terrorists and murderers ? whats happening to canada ? islamist terrorists are being paid. millions . and then there’s this SEEMS SICK TERRORIST LIBRAL vote bank seems to be TRAINING IN BC WOODS. WHATS GOING ON? https://vimeo.com/260823470
In a world where we are at 7.5 billion strong and climbing, we as a planet are rapidly reaching a point where we will not be able to sustain that many mouths to feed. 12 billion is the tipping point and we will reach that point in a mere 20 years at the current rate of Procreation. Then comes the Mass starvation and the fight for Water. Diversity is not a strength. In times of adversity, how can a society rally under one banner if they have absolutely nothing in common? Multiculturalism does not work. History has proven this time and again. Many a great civilization has fallen because of this. We are losing our Canadian Identity. We went from one of the Strongest nations on the Planet, to a huggy, kiss kiss country that is a complete laughing stock, led by one of the most immature and ridiculous Political leaders ever seen in any nation. He is a Drama Teacher for God Sakes. He has been great at pretending and Acting the part, but his Ideals have never left the Campus. The world is facing Global Terrorism, Conflict with North Korea(which has the largest Military man power on the planet) and Nuclear head butting and he is more concerned with the price of chick peas, cashing out known jihadi murderers, Gay rights and other insane prospects that are superceding the real global issues. We need a Referendum ASAP and lose this moron.