Paul Tuns:

Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland tabled the federal budget on April 7 and most media coverage focused on the size of the deficit, measures to address the housing affordability crisis, new defense spending and a new dental program, and tax increases for large businesses and the wealthy. But there are a number of anti-life and anti-family initiatives in the budget that flew under the radar.

The budget recommits to the Trudeau government’s “Feminist international assistance policy,” which Freeland claims will “improve the lives of women, girls, and vulnerable populations around the world,” through a $650 million commitment over three years to pay for “sexual and reproductive health and rights,” including abortion, contraception, and age-inappropriate sex-education. Money will continue to be given to abortion advocacy groups such as International Planned Parenthood Federations, Marie Stopes International, and Women Deliver.

Budget 2022 states, “now, more than ever, it is critical that Canada work to build a safer, more stable, and more prosperous world for all” and that “Canada has an important role to play in promoting and strengthening democracy and human rights.” Campaign Life Coalition said, “The greatest human rights violation of our time is the holocaust against the preborn by abortion” and “Far from ‘promoting of human rights.”

In a section titled, “Help for Canadians who want to become parents,” the Trudeau government is offering a tax credit for surrogacy and in vitro fertilization so that homosexuals and others can “build the family they dream of.” The budget document states, “Whether facing fertility issues, being part of a same-sex couple, or just wanting to be able to be a mom or a dad on their own terms, some Canadians rely on surrogacy and expensive procedures in order to build the family they dream of.”

The government will “allow medical expenses related to a surrogate mother or a sperm, ova, or embryo donor that are incurred in Canada for 2022 and subsequent taxation years to be claimed,” including, “costs that have been reimbursed to a surrogate for in vitro fertilization expenses.” It would also allow fees paid to fertility clinics and donor banks in Canada in order to obtain donor sperm and ova to be eligible under the Medical Expense Tax Credit.

CLC said, “Fertility treatment that involves separating the marital embrace from procreation is gravely immoral” because “children have a right to be conceived in a loving embrace by a man and a woman who are committed to one another in a stable marriage.” CLC recognizes the anguish of parents unable to conceive naturally but said that “fertility treatment commodifies human life, degrading human life into an ‘object’ that can be bought and sold.”

The budget also commits $100 million over five years to “A federal LGBTQ2 action plan” to provide a “fairer and more equal Canada for LGBTQ2 Canadians.” Claiming that “many LGBTQ2 Canadians still face discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, which continues to result in persistent health, social, and economic inequities,” the funding will be used to remedy this supposed discrimination.

Campaign Life Coalition stated, “This budget shows the Liberals’ deep-seated commitment to advancing ideological positions that undermine the family, the cell of society, and are therefore destructive to the social fabric of our country.”

CLC said there was one positive aspect of the budget, “Support for workers experiencing miscarriage or stillbirth,” which recognizes that losing a baby during pregnancy is traumatic: a miscarriage or stillbirth is a profoundly tragic event in someone’s life, and can cause physical and psychological trauma.” Changes to the Canada Labour Code, employees in federally regulated industries will be eligible for an eight-week unpaid leave after the loss of a child; “the first three days will be paid for employees who have completed three months of continuous employment.”

CLC said, “This is a step in the right direction,” because “It recognizes the pain and anguish that parents experience in losing a baby during pregnancy.” Yet, CLC noted the bereavement benefit “also reveals the cognitive dissonance in the Trudeau government when it also promotes abortion.”