CALGARY, Alberta, January 20, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Conservative politician who is aiming to wrestle the nomination in a Calgary riding from a long-time pro-life Member of Parliament says abortion and same-sex “marriage” are the “law of the land” and it’s wrong for MPs to try to “reopen” debate on those issues.
Ron Liepert, former finance minister under Alberta Premier Alison Redford, announced last week that he would seek the Conservative nomination for the 2015 federal election in the new riding of Calgary-Signal Hill. The current riding, Calgary West, has been held by Tory pro-life MP Rob Anders since 1997.
Liepert’s supporters have launched a website with the slogan “It’s Time to Do Better”, and have raised a range of complaints against Anders. Among them is his vocal stance on the right to life.
“The federal government has long ago settled those issues,” Liepert told LifeSiteNews.com in a telephone interview when asked about his views on abortion and same-sex “marriage”.
“They are laws of the land. We honour the laws of the land and it’s not appropriate at this time for Mr. Anders or any other Member of Parliament to be trying to go against the wishes of the majority and try to reopen these debates. So far as I’m concerned, it’s done and over with,” he said.
When LifeSiteNews.com noted that Canada’s Supreme Court had, in its 1988 R. v. Morgentaler decision, urged Parliament to craft a new abortion law, Liepert replied: “It’s settled as far as I’m concerned. There are other more important issues to deal with.”
During his tenure in the riding, Anders has faced several nomination contests. The riding has been held by the Conservative Party, in its various forms, since 1945. Anders took 62 percent of the vote in the 2011 election. The real battle in Calgary West takes place over the Conservative nomination.
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At the 2013 National March for Life in Ottawa, Anders urged pro-lifers to support pro-life MPs at nomination meetings in their ridings, saying that pro-life MPs “have taken strong stands and they have made enemies.”
Anders did not respond to LifeSiteNews.com by press time. Staff said he was out door knocking.
Pro-lifers know Anders as a vocal supporter for the unborn and a defender of real marriage.
Speaking to the House in 2003 on reproductive technologies that kill embryonic humans, Anders said: “I find it ironic that there can be such concern with regard to the people of Baghdad [in a situation of war] yet when it comes to Canada's littlest citizens, there is not that type of concern … As a result there will be people who may never sit in this place.”
Speaking to the House in 2005 about Bill C-38, which redefined marriage, he said: “I, like many on this side of the House, believe in the traditional common law definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”
One of the chief complaints raised against Anders is his stance on the legacy of Nelson Mandela, who he has criticized for ties to terrorism and communism. The late South African president also signed South Africa’s law legalizing abortion in 1997.
In 2001, Anders was the lone voice of opposition in the House of Commons when Prime Minister Jean Chretien began his attempt, eventually successful, to declare Mandela an honorary citizen of Canada. Anders’ opposition delayed the process because the motion could not be passed unanimously.
While Anders has proposed legislation that would curtail funding of abortion, Liepert, as former finance minister for the PC party, defended the status quo of abortion funding in his province.
During the 2012 Alberta election, Premier Alison Redford argued that doctors should be forced to commit abortions and prescribe contraception even if it goes against their beliefs.
When LifeSiteNews.com asked Liepert if his views differed from that of his former party’s leader, he replied: “It’s not an issue…that constituents have raised with me so I don’t have a position on it and it’s not anything that I need to spend a lot of time on.”
Contact info:
Rob Anders
Tel: 613-992-3066
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