MONTREAL (CP) - A Conservative MP’s suggestion that Christians are persecuted in Liberal Canada forced Conservative Leader Stephen Harper to confront his party’s reputation for social conservatism on the first day of its founding convention.
The issue hit Harper like a grim flashback from the last federal election campaign, when untimely outbursts from his backbenchers derailed what had been a smooth campaign.
Harper was asked Thursday about a comment from one of those social conservatives - Ontario MP Cheryl Gallant
-who sent out a flyer to her constituents complaining about “Christianophobia.”
“Is Christianity under attack in Canada?” the leaflet asked.
The response from Harper sounded familiar. As in the last election campaign, the Conservative leader did not defend his MP’s remarks but wouldn’t condemn them either.
“I’ll let Cheryl Gallant explain those remarks herself,” he told reporters at the start of the Tory convention.
“I haven’t seen them.”
And, just like the last election, the Liberals were waiting in the shadows and eager to pounce on every miscue by handing out transcripts and providing outraged spokespeople to comment.
Tory spokesman Mike Storeshaw pointed out that the flyer merely reprinted remarks Gallant made last December in the Commons.
“The moral outrage from Liberals is wearing a little thin,” said Storeshaw.
“Especially when it takes them three months to react. Where was the outrage three months ago?”
Gallant’s leaflet supported her complaint with a pair of examples, including the **Canada Customs and Revenue Agency threatening to revoke the charitable tax status of a Calgary bishop who denounced gay marriage./B]
“Hostility in Canada to Christian teachings about the sanctity of the family and life has resulted in persecution here at home,” said the flyer, which used quotes from a speech Gallant gave to the House of Commons last December.
“The government has launched a campaign of
intimidation to silence churches by dispatching tax collectors to threaten the charitable tax status of denominations who speak out against the Liberal government.”
During the election campaign, Bishop Fred Henry sent a letter to all his Calgary parishes saying Prime Minister Paul Martin’s support of same-sex marriage made him a bad Catholic.
Charitable organizations are supposed to remain politically neutral and Henry was soon threatened by the revenue agency - but nothing came of the threat.
Gallant has kept a very low profile in the House of Commons since the Liberals won a minority mandate last June.
She was one of several social conservatives in Harper’s caucus who caused his campaign some misery just as it appeared the Conservatives might be amassing enough support to form a government. During the campaign, Gallant compared abortion to terrorist beheadings in Iraq (news - web sites).
Harper has attempted the tricky political balancing act of sidelining the more outspoken social conservatives without alienating the right wing of his party.
He avoided publicly rebuking those who made the remarks but at the same time quietly banished
most of them from his Opposition shadow cabinet. One of those MPs, Randy White, has said he will retire from politics.
Several Liberals are attending the Conservative convention - including Toronto-area MP Ruby Dhalla, who was eager to speak to the issue.
“The statement put out by Cheryl Gallant is absolutely ludicrous and it’s really a reflection of the extreme views held by the Conservative party,” Dhalla said in the convention hallway.
"We have Stephen Harper trying to paint a mask of moderation in terms of the values but Cheryl Gallant is really indicative of the views held by the majority of these people.
"The convention hasn’t even started and we’re already hearing these extreme views.
freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1365080/posts**
(CHA-CHING!)…
