Majority of Conservative MPs vote in favour of defeated sex-selective abortion bill
A majority of Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole's caucus voted Wednesday in support of a bill that sought to restrict certain abortions even as he voted it down, saying he respects a woman's right to choose.
Saskatchewan MP Cathay Wagantall brought forward Bill C-233, which sought to ban doctors from performing an abortion based on the sex of a fetus, which was defeated in a 248-82 split.
All but one of the votes cast in its favour came from the Conservatives, who have 119 members, with the other coming from former party MP and leadership contender Derek Sloan.
O'Toole voted against the bill, as did other members of his front bench, such as his health critic Michelle Rempel Garner. Some, including deputy party leader Candice Bergen pledged their support, as did O'Toole's leadership predecessor Andrew Scheer.
Wagantall had argued her private member's bill was more nuanced than other debates surrounding abortion because it only looked at the issue of terminating a pregnancy through sex selection, which she and supporters -- including some fellow Conservative MPs -- worry disproportionately affects baby girls and framed it as an concern around women's rights.
"Despite Erin O'Toole's emphatic pro-choice stance and commitment to vote against this bill, exactly two-thirds of his caucus voted in favour of it," the group named We Need a Law, which supported the bill, said in a statement.
While MPs, including Liberals, said they didn't support sex-selective abortion, they blasted the law in previous debates as a Trojan horse attempting to restrict the reproductive rights of women, also questioning the sources of information presented in support of the bill's cause.
Hours before Wednesday's vote, Status of Women Minister Maryam Monsef released a letter she penned to O'Toole asking the leader to call on his caucus to vote against what she calls a "dangerous bill."
"This is in fact the seventh time since 2007 that a Conservative Member of Parliament has worked hard to limit women's choices," she said at a news conference.
O'Toole had previously indicated he wouldn't support the proposed legislation as he is "pro-choice." His office said he would, however, allow a free vote on matters of conscience for his caucus.
In a statement before the vote, he said: "I support a woman's right to choose and my record speaks for itself. As prime minister, my government will secure the rights of Canadians and never erode them."
Melanie Joly, the economic development and official languages minister, appeared alongside Monsef at the news conference and said O'Toole's stance isn't good enough.
"It is not enough for you to personally say that you will not vote in favour of C-233 and free vote is also not good enough," said Joly.
"For our rights to be safe, we need to to curb all policies that attempt to control women's bodies."
Joly suggested O'Toole allowed the bill, first introduced under the leadership of Scheer, to be kept alive in Parliament because he earned his party's victory last summer thanks to votes from anti-abortion groups.
During the race, O'Toole made a pitch to the supporters of Sloan and Toronto lawyer Leslyn Lewis, who had the backing from many social conservatives, to mark him as their number 2 or number 3 choice in the ranked ballot system.
In turn, he promised that as leader, their views would be respected.
Keeping that pledge without exposing the party to attacks from Liberals and other critics that it would allow for the debate on abortion rights to be reopened remains a balancing act for O'Toole -- highlighted by the most recent vote.
Since becoming leader, he has focused his attention on speaking to those he wants to see vote Conservative in the next federal election who perhaps haven't done so in the past, like more women, and emphasizing his views as pro-LGBTQ rights and "pro-choice."
During the 2019 election campaign, Scheer's socially conservative views on abortion and same-sex marriage dogged him in the lead up to the vote, as he wouldn't immediately clarify his views.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 2, 2021.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
BREAKING Israeli military says it has carried out a 'targeted strike' in Beirut
The Israeli military said it carried out a 'targeted strike' in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
Lawyers say former Harrods boss Al Fayed was a 'monster' who abused women and girls
Lawyers representing dozens of women who say they were raped and sexually abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of the famous London department store Harrods, said the case was akin to the crimes of sex offenders Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
NEW Health data collected from Indigenous Peoples in Canada has a dark history. One Indigenous company is turning that around
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.