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ALLIANCE CANDIDATE HARPER SPEAKS ON ABORTION

Toronto Liberal flagship paper, The Toronto Star, endorses Harpur

OTTAWA, December 5, 2001 (LSN.ca) - In a series of private interviews with reporters Monday, Canadian Alliance leadership candidate Stephen Harper commented on abortion. In the National Post, journalist Sheldon Alberts writes that Harper "vowed not to let the religious right hijack the Alliance party, and he would not be beholden to any narrow, special interest groups."

While the Post reports Harper as saying he would allow free votes on issues such as abortion, it quotes him as saying, "I don't think that's a wide enough base to win the leadership. In a slam on Stockwell Day, Harper said, "I, as leader, am not going to focus this party on the abortion issue or on the leader's personal moral and religious views. That's a fundamental decision the party is going to have to make."

Since Harper is known as a libertarian and social liberal, political observers have suggested that the way he presented his statements, leaves the impression that he has decided to wedge his campaign against social conservatives. Indeed, the intensely liberal Toronto Star seems to also hold that impression. Today's Star editorial, "A Welcome Entry" praises Harper as "the antithesis of the current leader, Stockwell Day," noting that he "has no interest in opening divisive moral issues such as abortion and gay rights." But of course Harpur did just that by his statements, as did Day's opponents in the last federal election when Day tried desperately to focus on other issues. The Star notes that despite massive differences over fiscal issues, they support Harper as Alliance leader. This endorsement by the Ontario-focused, Liberal party flagship paper may send a strong negative signal about Harpur to grassroots Alliance members who might otherwise have considered voting for him! .

In related news, Ottawa sources suggest that Alliance MP Grant Hill, a social conservative, is said to be seriously considering a run for the leadership.

See the coverage in the National Post and Toronto Star:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/national/politics/story.html?f=/stories/2001120...
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_
Type1&c=Article&cid=1007464013768&call_page=TS_Editorial&call_pageid=968256290204&call_pagepath=News/Editorial&col=968350116795

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