The federal Conservative Party wrapped up its convention in Winnipeg this weekend after passing two controversial resolutions.
One resolution supports restrictions on the Canadian Human Rights Commission, which have come to represent the tension in Canadian society between the right to freedom of expression and anti-discrimination laws. A complaint from the Canadian Islamic Congress against Maclean’s magazine regarding an article entitled “The Future Belongs To Islam,” which they found discriminatory, was a particular sore point; the author, Mark Steyn, and fellow writer Ezra Levant have widely criticized the commissions as a threat to freedom of expression.
However, Wahida Valiante, national vice president of the Canadian Islamic Congress, argues that the commissions are the only place minorities can go if they feel they are being discriminated against.
Edmonton-area MP Peter Goldring was at the convention, and says the resolution is not binding, but simply marks a serious issue that the party wishes to bring up for discussion.
On the second, separate resolution
recommending the continued pursuit of a bill making the harming of a fetus an additional offence, Goldring was more supportive. “To have nothing in the Criminal Code to encompass that kind of crime,” he says, “it’s much like having an assault against yourself and being absolutely powerless to have any kind of retribution. That’s very disturbing to the mother.”
Pro-choice groups such as the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada have called the bill a sneaky attempt to recriminalize abortion by giving rights to the fetus.