RENFREW, June 29, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Of all MPs bashed during this election, Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant likely received the worst treatment by the media and the Prime Minister himself, harassing her for her outspokenly pro-life statements prior to the election. Despite the demonizing, Gallant trounced all competition winning 10% more votes than all her competitors combined. Gallant received 27,494 votes (55.1%), while her closest competitor, Liberal Rob Jamieson received only 14,806 (29.7%) votes. Of note, Jamieson did not fill out a pro-life questionnaire but admitted at an all candidates’ debate he supported abortion. “I believe that a woman has the right to choose,” he said in a debate in Barry’s Bay Ontario. While the country had a voter turnout of 60%, Gallant’s riding saw a 67.5% voter turnout.
Hundreds of articles in the press, and countless radio and television broadcasts reiterated Prime Minister Paul Martin’s condemnation of Gallant’s pro-life statements. Early in June, on his way to Georgia for the G-8 Summit, Martin took time to condemn Gallant for remarks she made at the Ottawa March for Life weeks before the election on May 13. Gallant had compared the beheading of American Nick Berg by terrorists, which she said in a respectful hushed tone, “the entire civilized world was horrified” at, to the killing of living children in the womb, which often takes place by dismemberment. She concluded saying “What’s happening over there (Iraq) is absolutely no different. 35 years, 2 million missing children; that’s an entire generation.”
Martin called Gallant’s remarks “abhorrent” and slammed Conservative Leader Harper for refusing to denounce Gallant. “I’ve got to say that if anybody in my party made an extreme statement such as that, I would have spoken out immediately against that statement,” said Martin. jhw