The Owen Sound Sun Times reports that Gus Mitges passed away Sunday. He was the Progressive Conservative MP for Grey-Simcoe or Bruce-Grey from 1972-1993. He was involved in school board and municipal politics in Owen Sound for a decade before running federally. He never once lost an election, retiring in 1993 due to health concerns. In 1981, he voted against the Charter of Rights. In 1987, The Interim ran a profile of the pro-life MP noting that he introduced a motion to have the unborn child explicitly recognized in the Charter of Rights. It was defeated. The following year, he introduced an amendment (the Mitges amendment) to Brian Mulroney’s first abortion bill that would have protected all unborn children from the moment of conception. It was narrowly defeated. Campaign Life Coalition national president Jim Hughes told The Interim that Mitges “was a courageous politician who desperately wanted to bring in legislation to protect the unborn.”
