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CHARLOTTETOWN, Prince Edward Island, June 22, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Even before holding their first meeting and fully developing their political platform, the Prince Edward Island Family Party, a new pro-life, pro-family provincial party, came under fire for their traditional, family-oriented policies.

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Last month, P.E.I.’s Green Party attacked the Family Party over its platform on sexual issues, particularly its views on homosexuality, which the Family Party maintains should not be normalized in school curriculum.  PEI’s Green Party leader called the Family Party an “embarrassment to the province.”

“These kinds of attitudes are sadly still present in Canadian society but people who hold these views are generally considered backward and intolerant,” said Green Party leader Sharon Labchuk. “For a political party to espouse this kind of nonsense, which in effect promotes hatred and bigotry, and expect to elect MLAS is just astounding.”

“I’ve been called intolerant and it’s not true,” responded Family Party leader Brian Nash at the time. “I want to have some tolerance for traditional values. And I want to have an open debate about this.”

“Our foundation is upon integrity and honesty in government. But being honest isn’t always saying what’s popular. And doing what’s right isn’t always saying what’s popular,” added Nash. “But we want to present a platform which is best for families in P.E.I.”

In an interview with LifeSiteNews, Nash said that the P.E.I. Family Party intends to conduct politics differently than the province’s two main parties, the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives.  The party will represent families and the majority of the population that values the importance of the family, he said.

Nash has been heavily involved in politics all this life, running as a candidate for the Progressive Conservative (PC) party in Nova Scotia in 1998 and managing several large campaigns; he was employed under the PC party in Nova Scotia and as Stockwell Day’s Atlantic campaign chair for the Alliance Party.

P.E.I., Nash observes, is a “fairly social conservative province,” and yet social conservatives do not have a voice in politics.

“Our main objective is to influence public policies and decisions,” said Nash. “To actually have a voice for people who believe in strong family values.”

The party hopes to have a candidate running for each of the province’s 27 ridings for the provincial elections in October 2011. While having a candidate elected may not happen this year, Nash remains positive that “with politics you can never tell.” 

“We’re not wanting to be just an anti-abortion, anti-same-sex ‘marriage’ party,” said Nash. “That is a fundamental belief that we have, but we’re trying to develop a policy that encompasses the complete political spectrum.  We really do believe that the family is the building block of our social, political, economic system, and we have to do what we can to promote that.”

With reference to abortion, said Nash, “provincially we are not in position to outlaw abortion, the provinces can’t make it criminal, but we are in a position of administrating the Canadian Health Act.” 

Currently, there are no hospitals or facilities on the island that provide abortions, and the Family Party wants to keep it that way.  Their platform proposes that no public funding should be provided for abortions or clinics on the island, that a 48-hour waiting period should be enforced, and that sonogram viewing and explanation should be necessary for women considering an abortion.  Additionally, the party insists that doctors and nurses should be able to object to performing or assisting in abortions on ethical grounds.

“Each human being has innate worth, unique potential and inherent dignity from conception to natural death,” says the party. “All human beings need to be protected, by other individuals and, if necessary by government, from any threat to their life.  Without life, any other right is meaningless.”

Nash says opponents of the party have called him everything from “Nazi” to “racist” for the values his party holds.  Yet, for every negative comment, the party receives probably three to four positive responses via email, their website, or direct contact with the party, Nash told LSN.

The party’s challenge now is to attain official party status, which they hope to accomplish by mid-July.  In order to register the party requires a certain number of registered voters to commit to voting for them in the upcoming election.  Additionally, in order to pay the registration fees and candidate entry fees the party will have to fundraise.

Nash encourages all P.E.I. residents who believe in family values to get involved in the party, through financial and volunteer support.

“The family has an important and necessary role in protecting and nurturing life,” states the party’s principles. “This role makes the family, rather than the individual, the basic building block of our society.  When families are strong and prosperous, democracy and economic enterprise flourish.”

To learn more about the P.E.I. Family Party, visit their website.