Josée Verner, CPC, Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women and Official Languages
Gordon O'Connor, CPC, Minister of National Revenue
Lawrence Cannon, CPC, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure, and Communities
Sylvie Boucher, CPC, MP
I watched those four Conservatives rise to vote Nay yesterday evening on the second reading of Bill C-484. They had to stand alone in the midst of their seated colleagues, who had otherwise risen en masse minutes earlier to support a clearly unconstitutional private member's bill whose only conceivable purpose was and remains to deny the autonomy of adult women. (Anyone else have some funny thoughts about some of those men voting on the fate of women? Oh, never mind. I wouldn't want to say anything ungenerous about *redacted*.)
Many of us have raged today against the hypocrites who betrayed women in the Commons last night and then, the very next day, used women's vulnerability as pious cover for a face-saving stunt. When it counted, as kuri of Thought Interrupted said last night,
The Liberals failed to stand up against the Conservative agenda they warned us against.
C-484 is as serious a threat to the defence of civil liberties in Canada as anyone should need, but that single line of kuri's goes further; it is the truest, most eloquent warning of worse to come. Some of us know that we are watching Washington redux in Ottawa right now, an absurdity when the Conservatives have only a bizarrely incompetent minority government, and yet it is happening.
The NDP, for whom women's equality is supposed to be a firm policy, declined to whip their vote. Twenty-seven Liberals supported Ken Epp's bill, which includes a definition of the person that directly contradicts a ruling of the Supreme Court. Stéphane Dion, their fearless leader, was too busy eating pink hamburgers at a party at Stornoway even to bother showing up to vote at all. The occasion of the party? A celebration of International Women's Week.
(Memo to Susan Delacourt of the Toronto Star: Honey, you've been in Ottawa too long. "Dion's very interesting spouse" is the kind of thing that interior decorators say, not what any of us expects from a political reporter.)
Others have put up the walls of shame on the blogs today. I thought that we should pay tribute as well tonight to the four Conservatives who stood up for women and the Charter and the Enlightenment ideals enshrined in it, to which women are heirs, to which all the broken-hearted peoples of the world must be heirs, maybe not yet, but there is no other ideal more worth fighting for every chance we get.
I've never applauded Gordon O'Connor before, and I've had to screw up some serious tolerance to do it now, but when he and his three colleagues rose on their lonesomes last night in defence of human liberty, Alexa rose with them and applauded, so I figure I can too. So can you. So can we all.
Well... I suppose the saving grace here is that it was only second reading, and was close enough that had "certain individuals" attended, it could well have been defeated.
Indeed, that was good to see, and they do deserve recognition.
skdadl, you are a brave and courageous woman, sticking your neck out to support those who normally behave as cads and worse! Congratulations, friend, for yet again doing the right thing. *hugs*
You're right, o'course: as much as it makes me squirm, ya gotta give these 4 some credit. For this vote, anyway. I give them credit.
Can't wait to read Antonia's column on Friday--I demand "attitude" (as Delacourt put it).
Help me oot...what's *redacted* in this context? Did they have nice ties? Don't tell me they had nice ties!
That only one NDP'r voted for it, lulled me into thinking that maybe there had been a whip. One NDP'r voted against gay-marriages despite the whip didn't they?
I just read a grim article from George Monbiot, about abortion rights internationally.
There are, proportionately, just as many aboritions in countries where they're illegal, as where they're legal. The difference is that in places such as Central America, where Catholic conservatives have made even birth control illegal, women do terrible harm to themselves, and even kill themselves, attempting abortions.
I can't see how any Liberal or NDP'r could vote for this bill without also wanting to criminalize abortion.
I can therefore see no reason why neither party leader would not enforce party discipline on this issue. Since it totally undercuts their positions on abortions generally.
Perhaps they don't see the issue as important as other things?
Thanks GD.
One of the problems with my columns is the space. 600 words.
The upside is, half a million people read them.
You would not believe the mail today. Heh-heh.
I join you in saluting those four Conservative MPs for voting against their Party (Private Member's Bill my ass) and standing up for justice and human rights. Thanks skdadl. And thanks Boucher, O'Connor, Cannon and Verner.
Thank you! (I'm on a bit of a blogging hiatus right now, but I'm paying close attention to events political; and I am very disappointed that Dion (whom I normally think very highly of) was not there.
Loved Antonia's column.