Here are 86 Conservative candidates who will vote against women’s reproductive rights
Over one-quarter of Conservative candidates running in the 2015 election are endorsed for their opposition to women's reproductive rights by a controversial anti-abortion activist group.
Over one-quarter of Conservative candidates running in the 2015 election have been endorsed for their opposition to women’s reproductive rights by a controversial anti-abortion activist group.
Campaign Life Coalition, a subject of controversy for flooding residential mailboxes with not-so family-friendly images, have released their list of anti-choice candidates in their 2015 “pro-life voters guide.“
Overall, 25.4% of all Conservative candidates are listed by CLC, although it’s not a definitive list – not every Conservative candidate responded to questionnaires and some are still listed as “evaluation pending.”
Broken down by province, the results are more dramatic.
10 of Saskatchewan’s 14 Conservative candidates (71%) and 45 of Ontario’s 121 Conservative candidates (37%) get a green light from the group for opposing full-access to safe and high-quality reproductive healthcare.
The list of Conservative candidates are spread across urban, suburban and rural ridings and also includes a mix of young and old, although the overwhelming majority of endorsed candidates are male (84%).
Who are these candidates?
Of course there’s Stephen Woodworth, who once compared abortion to slavery and introduced Motion 312 to “study” when life begins. And there’s Mark Warawa, who led a backbench mini-rebellion because he felt he was being muzzled for trying to re-open the abortion debate.
New Brunswick’s Tilly O’Neill-Gordon announced last year that “Miramichi is very Christian – we’re fine people, we’re a strong bunch of people who would never agree to abortion.”
And two former Conservative staffers running in Ottawa-area ridings were endorsed by CLC.
On September 22, David Piccini, a former staffer to trade minister Ed Fast, answered “no” when asked if “there any circumstances under which you believe a woman should have access to abortion?”
And Andy Wang, the former assistant to jobs minister Pierre Poilievre, “was deemed to be pro-life after a meeting with a CLC leader.“
A few other first-time candidates made the list too, including ones who’ve made headlines for controversial social media posts.
Winnipeg-South’s Gordon Giesbrecht, who previously compared abortion to the Holocaust and said it was like a “9/11 every day” received an endorsement.
So did Etobicoke North’s Toyin Dada, whose social media postings have been linked to a group with a history of protesting abortion clinics and the Toronto Pride Parade.
All of this comes at the same time as frequent warning flags regarding women’s reproductive rights, as Planned Parenthoods all across the United States and Canada have been targeted.
Here’s the complete list (so far) of 86 Conservative candidates across Canada that Campaign Life Coalition has done us the service of flagging for their anti-choice position on women’s reproductive rights:
Alberta:
- Blake Richards (Banff-Airdrie)
- Kevin Sorenson (Battle River-Crowfoot)
- Len Webber (Calgary Confederation)
- Jason Kenney (Calgary Midnapore)
- Mike Lake (Edmonton-Wetaskiwin)
- Chris Warkentin (Grande Prairie-Mackenzie)
- Rachael Harder (Lethbridge)
- Jim Hillyer (Medicine Hat-Cardston-Warner)
- Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan)
- Michael Cooper (St. Albert-Edmonton)
British Columbia:
- Ed Fast (Abbotsford)
- Mark Strahl (Chilliwack-Hope)
- Nina Grewal (Fleetwood-Port Kells)
- Ron Cannan (Kelowna-Lake Country)
- Mark Warawa (Langley-Aldergrove)
- Bob Zimmer (Prince George-Peace River)
- Alice Wong (Richmond Centre)
- Marshall Neufeld (South Okanagan-West Kootenay)
- John Weston (West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country)
Manitoba:
- Lawrence Toet (Elmwood-Transcona)
- Jim Bell (Kildonan-St. Paul)
- Candice Bergen (Portage-Lisgar)
- Ted Falk (Provencher)
- James Bezan (Selkirk-Interlake-Eastman)
- Francois Catellier (Saint Boniface-Saint Vital)
- Gordon Giesbrecht (Winnipeg South)
New Brunswick:
- Rob Moore (Fundy Royal)
- Tilly O’Neill-Gordon (Miramichi-Grand Lake)
- John Williamson (New Brunswick Southwest)
- Rodney Weston (Saint John-Rothesay)
Prince Edward Island:
Ontario:
- Costas Menegakis (Aurora – Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill)
- Alex Nuttall (Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte)
- Jodie Jenkins (Bay of Quinte)
- Kyle Seeback (Brampton South)
- Phil McColeman (Brantford-Brant)
- Larry Miller (Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound)
- Pierre Poilievre (Carleton)
- David Van Kesteren (Chatham-Kent-Leamington)
- Jeff Watson (Essex)
- Toyin Dada (Etobicoke North)
- David Sweet (Flamborough-Glanbrook)
- Pierre Lemieux (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell)
- Vincent Samuel (Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas)
- Daryl Kramp (Hastings-Lennox and Addington)
- Ben Lobb (Huron-Bruce)
- Stephen Woodworth (Kitchener Centre)
- Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga)
- Marian Gagne (Kitchener South-Hespeler)
- Bev Shipley (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex)
- Scott Reid (Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston)
- Gord Brown (Leeds-Grenville-Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes)
- Suzanna Dieleman (London-Fanshawe)
- Paul Calandra (Markham-Stouffville)
- Jobson Easow (Markham-Thornhill)
- Bob Saroya (Markham-Unionville)
- Julius Tiangson (Mississauga Centre)
- Wladyslaw Lizon (Mississauga East-Cooksville)
- Stella Ambler (Mississauga-Lakeshore)
- Andy Wang (Nepean)
- Lois Brown (Newmarket-Aurora)
- Dean Allison (Niagara West)
- Adam Moulton (Northumberland-Peterborough South)
- Royal Galipeau (Orleans)
- Colin Carrie (Oshawa)
- David Piccini (Ottawa-Vanier)
- Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke)
- Bryan Hayes (Sault Ste. Marie)
- Roxanne James (Scarborough Centre)
- Chuck Konkel (Scarborough-Guildwood)
- Leslyn Lewis (Scarborough-Rouge Park)
- Roshan Nallaratnam (Scarborough Southwest)
- Guy Lauzon (Stormont-Dundas-South Glengarry)
- Fred Slade (Sudbury)
- Richard Harvey (Thunder Bay-Superior North)
- Peter Van Loan (York-Simcoe)
Saskatchewan:
- Gerry Ritz (Battlefords-Lloydminster)
- Kelly Block (Carlton Trail-Eagle Creek)
- David Anderson (Cypress Hills-Grasslands)
- Rob Clarke (Desnethe – Missinippi-Churchill River)
- Tom Lukiwski (Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan)
- Andrew Scheer (Regina-Qu’Appelle)
- Michael Kram (Regina-Wascana)
- Randy Donauer (Saskatoon West)
- Brad Trost (Saskatoon-University)
- Cathay Wagantall (Yorkton-Melville)
Photo: March For Life.
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