CTV’s Question Period hosted a discussion between MP’s on the topic of Morgentaler’s Order of Canada appointment. (To watch the clip, scroll down to the bottom right, and click the link.)

Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay expressed her approval, claiming Morgentaler is “someone who has challenged assumptions; has contributed to the evolution of Canadian society.”

We are a better country for having people willing to stand up…We are better off having people willing to challenge those assumptions. It’s not a question, in fact, whether you agree with the underlying piece or not. I am a huge supporter of anyone willing to stand up and do exactly this.

Wow. Anyone? I can name a few people who’ve stood up — changed perceptions within a nation and contributed to an evolution of their society — whom I’d never call myself a huge supporter of. Names like Adolf Hitler, Tomas de Torquemada, and Genghis Khan come to mind.

I’d boldly argue that the underlying piece indeed does matter a great deal. With a mentality like Findlay’s, not one of us would care where Canada was going, as long as it had strong leadership taking it there.

Obviously, Findlay couldn’t possibly mean what she said. Had she meant it, she would not have begun her rant by emphasizing that “we’ve had the [abortion] debate” already. Clearly, she’s not a ‘huge supporter’ of pro-lifers who are ‘willing to challenge…assumptions’ about abortion.

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Andrea adds: All we need are really, really strong leaders–on the one hand it almost rings like a call for dictatorship, as you mention, Tanya. On the other hand, it means we just don’t need Martha. Because she is not willing to comment on the underlying issue–read be a strong leader–for fear it might alienate voters. (Then again, perhaps she did comment, after alll. “The debate is over,” is code for I’m happy with the status quo.)