BY GERARD MITCHELL
GUEST OPINION
This year the federal government added a new condition to its summer jobs program. The change aims to exclude pro-life organizations from eligibility. All applicants for funding must now pledge adherence to the Prime Minister’s pro-choice stand on abortion. Many organizations are unwilling to so attest. As a result, there will likely be fewer jobs for students this summer. It also means that many charities will be unable to carry out planned activities.
The new requirement in the application process is built on the myth that there is a Charter right to abortion on demand in Canada. No such right exists. However, rights to freedom of conscience, religion, belief, opinion and expression do exist. They are guaranteed by the Charter.
While the government uses the new condition to deny access to pro-life organizations, it has granted funding under the summer jobs program to anti-pipeline activists. The Prime Minister justifies access to the pipeline protesters based on their entitlement to free speech. Why does he not treat pro-lifers the same way? What happened to their freedoms of conscience, religion, opinion and expression?
The loss of opportunity for Island students, charities, and local initiatives is most regrettable. Too bad there were not more Liberal MPs with the courage of Scott Simms from Newfoundland. He, although personally pro-choice, sacrificed his position as chair of the Fisheries and Oceans Committee to vote against the inclusion of the attestation clause which he described as "not right".
No one can afford to be complacent about what the government is doing with its administration of the summer jobs program. What or who will next be made subject to a loyalty pledge or values test?
- Gerard Mitchell, Charlottetown, for St. Dunstan’s University Institute of Christianity and Culture