TORONTO, June 14, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Canadian Conservative MP is calling for a boycott of the Bank of Montreal (BMO) after the bank announced a decision not to renew an Affinity MasterCard fundraising program for LifeCanada.
“This is a case of discrimination here, plainly,” said Saskatchewan MP Maurice Vellacott, according to a SunMedia report. “This was a straight business transaction.” The Affinity MasterCard program links purchases on the card with points – similar to AirMiles – where the proceeds instead go towards helping the pro-life group.
“As a financial institution, we really can’t and don’t want to be involved in decisions that people consider to be personal and private,” claimed BMO spokesman Ralph Marranca, who said the bank will not be renewing the 15-year program after its expiry in July. “We didn’t want to be seen as taking sides in any way.” Marranca admitted in April that only a “small number” of complaints had been received about the program.
Vellacott said that unless the BMO reverses its decision, he will be “encouraging others to consider pulling back business” from the bank. He said that BMO “caved” to pressure from pro-abortion groups to reverse the Affinity MasterCard program.
Although Marranca claims the BMO decision is because abortion is a “personal and private” decision, the bank obviously does not have a problem with supporting embryonic stem cell research – the deliberate murder of embryonic children for financial reward. BMO also sponsors the Affinity MasterCard program for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation which supports embryonic stem cell research.
Despite the absurd claim that the bank is withdrawing support of the program because abortion is a “personal and private” decision, the bank maintains its sponsorship of an identical Affinity MasterCard program for a militantly pro-abortion political party – the New Democratic Party of Ontario.
BMO contact is Tony Comper, President and Chief Executive Officer, BMO Financial Group, PO Box 300, Station A Toronto, ON M6S 4X2 416-867-7654.
See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
Bank of Montreal Caves to Media Pressure and Cancels 15 Year Old MasterCard Affinity Program With Pro-Life Group
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2005/apr/05041206.html
tv