Danielle Smith on social issues:
In our Wildrose, when our members elected me, they knew they were electing a candidate that was pro-choice and pro-gay marriage,” Smith told an all-candidates gathering in Okotoks, a town of 24,000 located south of Calgary. “The only way we’re going to be able to become a mainstream, big-tent conservative party which is capable of forming government is to focus on the issues that matter to Albertans.”
Wildrose is a populist party. If abortion matters to Albertans, it will have to matter to Danielle Smith. I seem to recall a referendum where abortion did matter to Albertans, and they were pro-life. I’ll try to look that up.
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Looking forward to the result of your search.. but not getting my hopes up. Albertans don’t stand out from the crowd as much as they like to think… they seem to be mostly about making money and/or entitlement. The ‘good of humanity’ stuff just doesn’t interest too many Canadians except in a ”pat myself on the back because I am what the media says a good guy is” kind of way… Please. Force me to be less cynical.
It may have been the early 90s that there was a referendum on de-funding abortion and 60 per cent of Albertans supported that. I’m not really able to look into this in detail right now, however, there was a referendum, Alberta came out on the pro-life side, and Ralph Klein ignored the results.
I don’t ever recall a referendum to defund abortion here, Andrea.
There was one in Saskatchewan, however, in 1991.
Our good friend, Joyce Arthur, mentions it here. http://www.prochoiceactionnetwork-canada.org/articles/defunding.shtml
Alberta…Saskatchewan…I could see how you Easterners could think we’re all one and the same.
I was involved in the Saskatchewan plebiscite (not a referendum, which is why the post-electrion NDP government was not legally-obligated to follow its results) in 1991. I believe it was 63% who voted to end public funding, despite a hysterical leftist campaign about what would happen if my tax dollars didn’s pay for some woman’s voluntary abortion. Frankly, I was surprised that we only got 63%. The kicker is that it was at this exact same time that this same NDP government cut funding for diabetics’ supplies, citing the need to find health cuts somewhere.
Melissa: I’m pretty confident the Albertans who told me about the poll don’t confuse Alberta and Saskatchewan! 🙂 (also, when you are from Ontario, you aren’t an easterner!)
Is this another politician who believes the myth that you can’t get elected unless your Pro Choice?
Arrr, I’m trying to get more information on the candidates in Alberta and I’m having a difficult time to find out what they stand on pro-life issues and other issues ect…. I also just learned that we are voting for our Canadian senate nominations….
Hope I can make a decent judgement and votes. Don’t know why Danielle is so afraid of saying that we could have a referendum on defunding abortion… Many people are just anxious to finally have a voice in it.