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CAMPAIGN LIFE CONTINUES TO ENCOURAGE PRO-LIFERS TO BECOME INVOLVED IN LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS

OTTAWA, February 11, 2002 (LSN.ca) - After being informed of a switch in the Canadian Alliance rules for leadership elections that now bar 3rd party groups from directly submitting memberships to the party, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC) has made a change to its procedures. The organization continues to encourage pro-life Canadians who are interested in the Canadian Alliance to join the party by March 1 in order to vote in the March 8 leadership election. CLC is however now advising that memberships must be acquired directly from the party by those wishing to participate, rather than through Campaign Life.

LifeSite has altered its party sign up page to reflect the change. See the new page at: http://www.lifesite.net/clc/elections/allianceleadership2002/index.html

Alliance Leadership candidate Stephen Harper attacked CLC over its initiative to solicit Alliance memberships so that more grassroots pro-life Alliance supporters would participate in the leadership election. Also, campaign organizers for pro-life MP Grant Hill questioned whether Stockwell Day was benefiting from CLC's action and that the Day campaign may have signed up people without their knowledge and consent. The accusations, particularly from the Hill campaign, came as a shock to the pro-life movement, since Hill was listed equally with Stockwell Day as one of the two strongly pro-life candidates in the race.

Both Harper and the Hill campaign team insinuated falsely that Day was behind the CLC sign-up campaign. Hill's organizers have asked the party's national council to do an independent audit of Day's memberships. Campaign Life Coalition, which is the national Canadian pro-life political organization, has not specifically endorsed any one of the leadership candidates in the current race since this time all of the candidates have indicated they are pro-life to varying degrees.

Eric Duhaime, a spokesman for Day, said the accusations are acts of desperation and evidence of the growing momentum behind the Stockwell Day Campaign. "Stockwell Day's campaign has been building momentum. The others are feeling the heat and, unfortunately, they are reacting negatively. Attacking people who support another candidate within your own party, building firewalls to exclude people of certain faiths from your own party, starting a whisper campaign about memberships in your own party-these are signs of desperation. Stockwell Day will continue to stand for what's right."

Stockwell Day supporter, Gerry Ritz MP, says just as Stephen Harper advocated building a firewall around Alberta, he is now trying to exclude those who support the pro-life position by building a firewall around the Canadian Alliance. "Harper is now trying to exclude different faith communities, including Evangelicals, Catholics, Orthodox Jews and Dutch Reformers. Unlike the Harper campaign, we welcome all common sense Canadians, also including libertarians, fiscal conservatives, democratic reformers, gun owners and every other person who wants positive change for Canada."

See related media coverage:
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20020211/17366.html
http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=A4208198-2E36-4602-8E03-7C9425BCC...

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