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Trudeau Government Making Summer Job Program Contingent On Supporting Abortion

PETER MUHLY/AFP/Getty Images

David Krayden Ottawa Bureau Chief
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Canada’s Trudeau government is forcing pro-life groups to say they support abortion in order to access a federal summer jobs program.

As the National Post reports, a pro-life group in Toronto is taking the federal government to court over the policy, saying their right to respect the rights of the unborn are being squashed by the Liberal government’s insistence that they support “reproductive rights” if they wish to apply for a grant to hire summer students.

Groups applying for the Canada Summer Jobs program must now answer “yes” to the question of whether their group supports “individual human rights” — except for the Trudeau government those human rights include abortion.

“The government recognizes that women’s rights are human rights,” the application form states. This includes sexual and reproductive rights — and the right to access safe and legal abortions.”

The Right To Life Association Of Toronto And Area filed suit against the federal government on Thursday, saying it is impossible to complete an application form unless the human rights question is answered in the affirmative.

In its suit, the pro-life group states: “We believe the Minister does not have the jurisdiction under law to compel us to make a statement that conflicts with our conscience rights under the Charter. Nor does the Minister have the right to compel speech as a condition of a receiving a financial benefit from the Government of Canada.”

The Trudeau government has been down this road before. In 2017 a court sided with three pro-life groups who had sued over being denied summer jobs funding. This year the federal government has apparently decided to put the policy in writing.

Canada Summer Jobs is a cross-country program that assists a variety enterprises in the private, public and non-profit sectors retain students in temporary full-time jobs.

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