September, 1984

Brian Mulroney wins a landslide victory.  He favours “better, and more equal access for abortions.”

October, 1984

The Prime Minister appoints Stephen Lewis, former Ontario NDP leader and outspoken pro-abortionist, as Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations.  Pro-abortion Walter McLean (Waterloo) is named Minister of State for Women’s Affairs.

January, 1985

The “Jury for Life” postcard blitz (following Morgentaler’s jury acquittal in Ontario the previous November), is an outstanding success.  Over one million postcards are delivered to Prime Minister Mulroney’s office.  There is no acknowledgement – formal or informal.

March, 1985

McLean appoints pro-abortion Sylvia Gold to a seven-year term as the president of the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women.  His ministry denies funding to REAL Women, a pro-life, pro-family group.

June, 1985

A parliamentary committee, under chairmanship of Patrick Boyer (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), begins cross-country hearings.  The committee solicits the views of individuals and interested organizations on changes in legislation to comply with Section 15 of the Charter, the “equal rights” section, which came into effect that April.

October, 1985

The Equality Committee, which has seven members, five of whom are Conservatives, tables its unanimous report, Equality for All, in the House of Commons.  The report acknowledges that abortion is “relevant” to the equality section of the Charter.  However, it makes no recommendations on the subject, noting only that the committee had heard “deeply felt and clearly divided views.”

Among the 85 recommendations are: that the religious character of the Sunday law be removed; that common-law marriages be recognized as equal to legal ones; that “sexual orientation” be added to the Canadian Human Rights Code as a prohibited group of discrimination; that alternatives be considered for the Christian holidays of Good Friday and Christmas.

November 17, 1985

Flora Macdonald (Kingston-The Islands), Minister of Immigration, addresses an Inter-America Women’s group in New York.  “The right to reproductive choice is under siege,” she say.  “Fundamentalists depict women as morally immature beings whose only proper role is a domestic one, subservient to male authority.