Conservative Party of Canada leader Andrew Scheer attacked the Trudeau government throughout his keynote speech at a Halifax convention Saturday, but an interview earlier that day revealed how he won’t upset the Liberal legacy on abortion.
Speaking to The Canadian Press prior to his speech, Scheer promised that if elected as the next prime minister of Canada, he would not introduce any legislation to restrict Canada’s abortion on demand policy. Canada currently has no abortion law at all — and has not since the Supreme Court struck down Canada’s existing legislation in 1988. Since then, governments have not introduced any new laws to impede access to abortion.
“I’ve made it very clear that, as prime minister, I will not reopen that debate. I will not introduce legislation to reopen divisive issues or to reopen issues that have already been settled by previous governments,” he told The Canadian Press.
“I’m not going to bring in legislation, bring in proposals that would divide our own caucus, divide our own party and divide Canadians.”
The comments stand in stark contrast to Scheer’s words to the convention faithful, where he hammered away at Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who he said, “wants to impose his personal views on the country and demonize those who don’t accept them.” Scheer promised that he would not let Trudeau continue “smearing and name-calling those who criticize him.”
The convention began within hours of Conservative Member of Parliament Maxime Bernier announcing he was leaving the party to form a new one. (RELATED: Diversity Critic Maxime Bernier Leaving Conservative Party)
Scheer also addressed the attempt by some political extremists to erase the memory of Sir John A. Macdonald from Canadian history by removing or vandalizing statues and deleting his name from buildings.
“I’m proud to say that we are the party of Canada’s first prime minister, the father of our federation, and the visionary who made this land possible,” Scheer told the convention.
Despite Scheer’s talk on burying contentious issues, Conservative Party delegates passed one pro-life policy motion on Saturday. It demanded that abortion provision be stripped from Canada’s foreign aid program.