An article in Maclean’s expresses the concern well:
Here is where Mr. Warawa might get the support of those who otherwise oppose his views on abortion. Regardless of how one feels about his motion, regardless of how uncomfortable it might make the leadership of Mr. Warawa’s party, every MP and everyone who is represented by an MP should be concerned if Mr. Warawa is being prevented from putting a motion before the House simply because some people oppose its sentiment or would rather it not be brought forward. Never mind the very fraught matter of abortion, this now threatens to become a question about the nature of parliamentary democracy and the independence of MPs.
This to me is the heart of the matter; the question of whether the rules were bent to put the kaibosh on this motion. It seems clear that M-408 passed the votability requirements. So what happened?
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Good to draw attention to this incident. Aaron Wherry who wrote the MACLEAN’S article hits the nail on the head. This is not a little matter and it’s significance has nothing to do with the motion. What has happened is about ‘the nature of parliamentary democracy and the independence of MPS’. What Aaron is pointing out is this has nothing to do with the Motion that MP Warawa put forth. The motion is a legitimate item for parliament. It meets the criteria for discussion. But, parliament is not going to do so.The PMO and others in the LIberal’s and NDP have decided that they run everything and they don’t want this motion to be in parliament. Whatever the nature of government and parliament is in Canada it is now subject to the whim of some. Harper, the Liberals and the NDP will not go near anything that anybody might construe as an abortion issue. Harper because it will endanger votes and the others because they are totally for the euphemistic ‘pro choice’. Thus, they decided that the Canadian parliamentary system is irrelevant. What matters is what they want. This should not be tolerated and I hope the appeal by MP Warawa wins. Good for MACLEAN’S and PWPL.
Patricia Maloney has written letters to several MPs and has both a copy of her letter and the addresses of the MPs she sent it to on her blog: http://run-with-life.blogspot.ca/2013/03/democracy-is-for-all-canadians.html
I’m putting my emails together and you should too. This outrage is most definitely worthy of a letter-writing campaign.
Here is the letter that I wrote to
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Dear Sirs:
I must express my extreme distress that Motion 408 was deemed non-votable by the Subcommittee on Private Members’ Business of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs on Thursday. This is an affront to dialogue, an affront to openness, and an affront to democracy itself.
I understand that abortion is a controversial issue. I understand that debating sex-selective abortions would be uncomfortable in Parliament. I understand that there are probably many members of Parliament who wish that this issue would just go away and die. But it hasn’t, and it won’t, and it is something that many (perhaps even most) Canadians want to discuss. When 94% of all canadians think that sex-selective abortion should be banned outright, what is the harm in discussing a motion that would not make it illegal, but would just say that we, as a Canadian society condemn it?
The motion was deemed votable by an impartial expert at the library of Parliament. A subcommittee squelched a legitimate private members bill because it made them uncomfortable, because they didn’t want to talk about it. That is totalitarian, it is draconian, it is disgusting, and it has no place in a free and democratic society.
Sincerely,
Melissa McCracken