Former B.C. premier Christy Clark weighs in on pro-life federal candidates

Former B.C. premier Christy Clark is wading into the federal election, defending the right of pro-life candidates to stand for office.

Clark posted the comments to Facebook, after federal Green Leader Elizabeth May came under fire for the presence of anti-abortion candidates in her party.

Conservative leader Andrew Scheer also faced pressure for his stance on abortion, with Liberals warning he would reopen the abortion debate if elected. Ironically, a Liberal candidate made waves of his own this week, declaring he was pro-life in an all-candidates debate.

2:14 Leaders’ Debate: May answers on whether she would allow pro-life candidates

“The talk about abortion rights during the debate really bugged me,” wrote Clark, pointing to the heat directed at both Scheer and May.

“So what? Should people who are pro-life be barred from participating in public life?” asked Clark.

The ex-premier went on to note that she is proudly pro-choice, but that as a political leader she had many people in her caucus that weren’t.

“They weren’t dangerous radicals from the alt-right. They were just people with deeply held, very different views from mine,” wrote Clark.

“And they accepted that limiting access to abortion was NOT on our party’s agenda.”

Clark said those MLAs she disagreed with were united under the party’s goal of growing the economy, and made valid contributions to the province.

And she criticized Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for potentially excluding valuable contributions to federal public life.

Scheer has said he will not reopen the abortion debate, but will allow candidates to propose their own private members bills. May has said that she will not try to whip votes or prevent anyone from bringing bills to the floor, even though she supports access to abortion.

Both the Liberals and the NDP say they will not permit anti-abortion legislation to make it to the floor.