OTTAWA – The Liberals are seeking an apology from the government after a Conservative senator told international development advocates Monday to “shut the f- up” on the issue of making abortion part of Canada’s foreign maternal-health strategy.
During a meeting on Parliament Hill, Senator Nancy Ruth argued it would be best to leave the subject alone or risk having it become an election issue.
“We’ve got five weeks or whatever ’til the G8 starts, shut the f- up on this issue. Let it roll out,” she told a group of aid experts who came out to discuss the government’s direction on foreign-aid funding in light of its recent decision not to support abortion programs in developing nations.
“It’s just if you push it, there will be more backlash. This is now a political football. It’s not about women’s health in this country,” she added. “Canada is still a country with free and accessible abortions. Leave it there. Don’t make it an election issue.”
By all accounts meant to be friendly – albeit blunt – advice, the longtime women’s rights advocate and trained United Church minister’s comments came as a shock to many in the room.
They certainly came as a surprise to Liberal status of women critic Anita Neville, who was among the 80 or so international-development advocates at the meeting.
“I think women have been told too often to be quiet, be good and then you’ll get what you want,” Neville said after question period, adding there was a “hush in the room” after Ruth let the F-bomb slip.
“I guess my argument is when have women ever made progress and got what they want by keeping quiet.”
Noting Ruth largely supports what the women in the room were saying, Neville said her comments appeared to have been made out of genuine concern that their actions could raise the ire of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who might retaliate with an even stronger anti-abortion stance.
But in a news release later posted on the Liberal website, Neville seemed to take a much harsher position.
In it, she pushed Harper to apologize for using Ruth to “threaten and blackmail Canada’s foreign aid community,” calling it the “most extreme example yet of how this deceitful and intolerant prime minister operates.”
Neville also called on Ruth herself to “apologize for her profane remarks.”
“People who work with our international community have every right to be deeply concerned about this government’s backwards approach to maternal health,” she said in the statement.
“They are saying their development effectiveness is being undermined, and there is a “˜chilling’ climate in the foreign-aid community where advocates are afraid to speak out for fear of having their aid dollars cut.
“And now we’ve got the prime minister using his senators to do his dirty work,” she added. “This is beyond unacceptable.”
NDP status of women critic Irene Mathyssen wasn’t at the meeting but said she was taken aback when she heard what happened. But it wasn’t so much Ruth’s foul language, that surprised her, it was her blunt admission that the Conservative government doesn’t think much of women’s rights advocacy.
“It’s what we’ve been hearing over and over again from various organizations but to have it out there in public, bold as brass, that’s a surprise,” she said.
“The truth about Nancy Ruth is that she cares about women’s issues and she was sending a warning: this is the reality of the people who have power and women … challenge them at their peril.”
Since the Conservatives came to power, they cut the national childcare program, closed 12 of 16 Status of Women offices and redirected funding for women’s rights advocacy to front line service providers. It’s directly caused the demise of a number of organizations like the National Association of Women and the Law, Mathyssen said.
“They’ve been undermined, decimated and basically de-funded and told to go away because they had the audacity to challenge and hold the government accountable,” she said. “The last few months have been a war on any group that had the nerve to speak out.”
While she understands Ruth’s advice to “tread lightly,” she doesn’t think that’s the best approach.
“I think in treading lightly, these groups will find that they’re utterly sidelined,” she said. “No matter how careful they are, this government has an agenda and it does not include women and women’s rights.”
While the Conservatives have planned to make child and maternal health a key theme of this summer’s G8 Summit, it’s become a fractious issue ever since Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon first suggested abortion would not factor into the discussion.
Although its position puts Canada at odds with other industrialized nations like the U.S. and Britain, the Harper government has stood firm on its plan to withhold foreign-aid funding for projects that include abortion.
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