Garbage man picks up garbage. Janitor mops floor. Minister preaches sermon.
These were the types of headlines running through my head this morning after reading a piece in the Ottawa Citizen on Campaign Life Coalition’s efforts to build support for pro-life candidates in the capital region.
“Anti-abortion group looking to run candidates as Conservatives in Ottawa ridings,” the headline reads.
My first reaction was: Of course they are. That’s what they do.
Obviously the agenda behind the story is to alert party brass, and citizens who fear the “Religious Right”, to watch out for pro-life supporters on the nomination papers before the 2015 election. It also paints Campaign Life as partisan, because they’re looking for Conservative candidates.
But the story also inadvertently serves as a feature for the good work going on behind the scenes.
Campaign Life is always trying to sign supporters up for riding associations, recruit candidates, and support pro-lifers at election time – from all parties. And yes, shocker, they also want to boot out sitting pro-abortion MPs. After decades of work in the political arena, they know as well as anyone that the political process doesn’t just end on election day; it begins.
Those important efforts generally remain behind the scenes, though, because there’s no particular reason to shine a light on it. So, if you want a taste of some of the strategy and thinking behind the pro-life movement’s political work, check it out here, courtesy of the Citizen. (If you can't read it because of the pay wall, there's a condensed version here.)
The story does make a crucial error, however, when it says Campaign Life supports candidates from all parties except the NDP. CLC is non-partisan, and that includes the NDP. In fact, one of the great heroes of Canada’s pro-life movement – Joe Borowski – was a cabinet minister for Manitoba’s NDP government from 1969-1971. The issue isn’t that the pro-life movement won’t support NDP candidates. It’s that the NDP has made it impossible to do so by banning pro-lifers from running. Sadly, it seems we’re getting to that point with the Liberals, too.
If you’re frustrated because there’s no pro-life candidate to vote for in your riding, or because Parliament’s not acting to protect the unborn, the best thing you can do is take part in the political process. Join a party and get involved in your riding association. Visit Campaign Life Coalition’s website or contact them for more information.