Howard Elliott points out how Justin Trudeau and his team are being less than fully honest about the Liberal Leader’s recent statement about his party and abortion:
Don’t buy the obfuscation. Here is what Trudeau said: “For current members, we will not eject someone from the party for beliefs they have long held. But the Liberal party is a pro-choice party, and going forward, all new members and new candidates are pro-choice.” That could not be any clearer: Party members and candidates who oppose abortion are not welcome.
Note that Trudeau speaks not only of Liberal candidates, but also of party members.
The party, and Trudeau himself, later morphed those comments into something more palatable, to wit, new party members and candidates will be required to vote along party lines, and the party is pro-choice. But that’s not what he said.
If Trudeau said something he didn’t mean to say, he should just admit to it, correct his errors, and move on. Instead, he and his team are trying to dissemble, and act as though there was nothing wrong with his original statements.
He may have misspoken, but it doesn’t sound like an off-the-cuff comment. He may have made a snap decision to go beyond the official party position, which was adopted at a policy convention in 2012 and supports a woman’s right to choose.
If he was being careless or casual about the comment, that’s a big concern, especially given the sensitive subject matter. If he was going rogue on his own party’s position, Liberals should be concerned.
