Efforts to enact a federal law guaranteeing abortion rights nationwide in Canada would likely backfire, experts say, just as a similar effort died in the United States Senate this week.
“Canada and U.S. are in very different situations,” Joyce Arthur, executive director of the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada, told Global News.
In the U.S., abortion was declared a constitutional right through the 1973 decision in the Roe v Wade case. Meanwhile in Canada, abortion was decriminalized in 1988 by the Supreme Court in the case of R v Morgentaler.
Both decisions created very different paths for the neighbouring countries and how they protect reproductive rights.
“We don’t have an abortion law in Canada and we also don’t have a law regulating heart surgery or an appendectomy,” said Arthur.
“We don’t need laws regulating health care procedures. We have the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that protects people’s bodily autonomy and their life and their liberty and conscience rights, all which come into play for the right to abortion as the Morgentaler decision found.”
Although Canada chose not to put forward criminal law on the matter — allowing abortion to be treated like any other medical procedure — the U.S. legalization decision allowed for states across the country to create their own rules, restricting access for some.
Even though abortion is still currently legal, 13 states would enact so-called “trigger laws” that would ban abortions almost immediately, if the United States were to overturn Roe v Wade — a likely possibility after a draft opinion from the Supreme Court was leaked.
Six more states have abortion ban laws on the books that predate Roe, and would likely also come into effect once the court rules.
Only one of those states, Michigan, is actively working to strike down their older law.
“Even if you have a good law passed, it could still be subject to interference and attack on an ongoing basis in years to come,” said Arthur, noting the tensions over abortion across the border.
“We actually don’t want a law in Canada because we have this broad right that guarantees access to abortion,” she added.
2:16 Ottawa pressured to grant universal access to contraception
Ottawa pressured to grant universal access to contraception
If Canada were to give more control to its provinces over abortion, the country would likely see a divide that mimics the States, according to Sonia Lawrence, professor at York University’s Osgoode Hall Law School.
“We would see differences between provinces and we would see really different kinds of political fights, particularly in some of the more conservative provinces,” Lawrence told Global News.
Although abortion is decriminalized in Canada, access can still be difficult and pregnant people are regularly referred to the U.S. for more complex abortions they cannot get here.
A pro-choice counter-protester holds a sign on the sidelines of the pro-life National March for Life in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 12, 2022. – The protest comes amid a political firestorm in the United States ignited by a leaked draft opinion that showed the Supreme Court’s conservative majority preparing to overturn Roe v. Wade, a landmark 1973 ruling guaranteeing abortion access nationwide.
(Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images)
“The legal status of abortion is only one part of the picture in terms of the factors that contribute to how accessible abortion or how safe abortion is. And in that sense, when we’re talking about the status of abortion in a given country, it’s not just about the legislative status,” Lara Cousins, women’s rights specialist in sexual and reproductive rights at Oxfam Canada, told Global News.
“The access issue is one that we really need to be doing a lot better on and one in which we still have a far way to go just because we’ve fallen short in terms of really addressing the geographical barriers in relation to abortion access and the funding in relation to abortion access,” she said.
Knowing there’s more the government can do, the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada has started a petition that has garnered over 10,000 signatures, according to Arthur.
“It’s basically for the Liberals to step up and fulfill the promises that they made during the last election campaign and then their platform in their budget last year,” she said.
On Wednesday, the Liberal government said it’s giving $3.5 million for two projects to help improve access to abortion services in Canada.
The funding stems from a year-old budget pledge to spend $45 million over three years to help organizations make sexual and reproductive information and services more available.
“In 2022, in this country, sexual and reproductive rights are human rights, plain and simple,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos at a press conference.
“The situation now ongoing in the United States does remind us that we cannot take our rights for granted.”
“I am pleased to be able to repeat once again that our government is unequivocal that women have the freedom to choose and we will do everything we can to ensure that that’s not a freedom that can be rolled back by any future government,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
