This newspaper called on Andrew Scheer to resign as Conservative Party leader immediately after the October 21 federal election. We were not disappointed that he lost, like many of his critics within the Conservative Party. Our disappointment preceded the reporting of results. The Interimexpressed our dissatisfaction with Scheer’s refusal or inability to counter Justin Trudeau’s extreme pro-abortion position since he announced he was running. But he became ever more disappointing as leader. It was one thing for Scheer to say he would not reopen the abortion issue if the Conservatives formed government; it was quite another for him to say he would ensure no pro-life measures were passed in Parliament. It was despicable to protect Trudeau’s ten-year, $7.1 billion global abortion funding commitment from Scheer’s campaign promise to cut foreign aid funding by 25 per cent. Why not cut Canada’s funding for so-called reproductive and sexual health abroad by that same 25 per cent?
There are plausible theories that Scheer’s Conservatives underperformed in the last election because he abandoned his pro-life and pro-family principles. There are plausible theories that the inability for Scheer to quell concerns about his (tepid) social conservatism because of his poorly articulated position(s) may have led to poorer than expected results. Many people professionally affiliated with politics – elected politicians, strategists, advisors, and journalists – take the latter view: Scheer’s pro-life and pro-family views ensured Justin Trudeau’s Liberals return to government.
Instead of worrying about winning and losing elections, pro-life and pro-family Canadians should concern themselves with opposing the agenda of abortion-on-demand, euthanasia for the vulnerable, and the radical reimagination of human sexuality and identity under various guises. While professional political types often consider social and moral issues distractions from the important economic issues (and, if they are particularly broad-minded, security and foreign policy), in fact, social and moral issues are the vital issues of the day. As George Will used to say, statecraft is soulcraft. As the journalist Sohrab Armani noted when he was criticized for fretting about transgender library readings, if one does not understand that this is the most important issue of the day, the critics have nothing much to offer in the way of opposition to the dominant cultural elite that are a threat to human flourishing and authentic liberty.
It is up to pro-life and pro-family Canadians to help the Conservative Party find its way to becoming an effective opposition to the Justin Trudeau Liberals. The vision of the Party’s leadership the past few years has been to criticize the Prime Minister for his personal foibles and the Finance Minister for accumulating endless debt. These are certainly worthy objects of criticism and mockery. But there are about 100,000 preborn babies killed by abortion every year in Canada. Trudeau is foisting abortion upon populations throughout the developing world. He takes every opportunity to sing the praises of every radical change that threatens our culture. There must be a chorus of voices criticizing Trudeau’s agenda and the Culture of Death he is determined to celebrate and spread, and one of those voices must be the leader of the Conservative Party and members of that caucus.
Every one of us must do our part to make that a reality, and that means despite often being disappointed with the end results of leadership campaigns or being felt let down by our political leaders, it is once again time for us all to buy membership in a party (that still allows pro-life candidates the chance to run under their flag) and actively support whichever pro-life candidates might put their names forward. Please purchase a Conservative Party membership today to guarantee your right to have a voice in who become the next leader of Justin Trudeau’s opposition.
