List of Anti-Choice Members of Parliament – May 2011

By Joyce Arthur, Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada

May 14, 2011  *Revised September 16, 2012*

  • List 1 – Totals of Members of Parliament (MPs) from each party who are anti-choice, pro-choice, or unknown – with comparisons just before the election on May 2, 2011 and now. 
  • List 2 – Known anti-choice MPs as of May 14, 2011. Conservatives  •  Liberals
  • List 3  –Probable anti-choice MPs, but not enough information is available to be certain (these are also on the Unknown list).
  • List 4 (goes to different page) – Known Pro-choice MPs and those with an Unknown stance (names and party affiliation only).

Please email info@arcc-cdac.ca if you have additional information or any corrections for these lists. Thank you!

(Archived list prior to May 2011 election is here)

List 1: Totals of MPs who are anti-choice or pro-choice

MPsJust before 2011 ElectionCurrent
(as of Sept 16, 2012)
Total Anti-choice MPs109 (36%)106 (35%)
– Conservative Party95 of 143 (66%)100 of 163 (61%)
– Liberal Party13 of 77 (17%)5 of 35 (14%)
– Independent1 of 21 of 2
Total Pro-Choice MPs148* (48.5%)145* (47.5%)
Total MPs with unknown stance48 (16%)54 (18%)
Total MPs305305

* The estimate of pro-choice MPs includes Conservative, Liberal, and Green MPs with a public pro-choice position and/or pro-choice voting record, as well as all NDP (100) and Bloc Quebecois (4) MPs based on their voting records and the assumption they are pro-choice.

List 2: Known Anti-choice MPs

In the table below,some MPs have asterisks beside their name (also in red font). These MPs voted in favour of Bill C-484 or Bill C-510, or opposed the Order of Canada for Dr. Henry Morgentaler, but have no other known public position on abortion. It’s possible they are not anti-choice and a few are actually pro-choice (as noted), so they are not included in the total figures above, just in the list below. Further information can be found in the table footnotes. (Please email info@arcc-cdac.ca if you have additional information.

Anti-Choice
Members of Parliament		Designated Anti-Choice At/After
2011 Federal Election (1)		Opposed
Order of Canada
for Dr. M (2)		Voted for
Bill C-484 at Second Reading (3)		Voted for Bill C-510 at Second Reading (4)
     
Conservative Party of Canada
Diane Ablonczy√√√N
Harold Albrecht√√√√
Mike Allen√√√√
Dean Allison√√√√
Stella Ambler√———
Rona Ambrose √√—
Rob Anders√√√√
David L. Anderson√√√√
Keith Ashfield√——√
John Baird * (pro-choice) No response√N
Leon Benoit√√√√
James Bezan √√√
Steven Blaney * Refused to say√N
Kelly Block√——√
Ray Boughen ** ——√
Garry Breitkreuz√√√√
Gordon Brown√√√√
Lois Brown√——√
Patrick Brown √√√
Rod Bruinooge√√√√
Paul Calandra√——√
Blaine Calkins √√√
Ronald Cannan Refused to say√√
Colin Carrie√√√√
Michael Chong *
(pro-choice)		 —√N
Rob Clarke ** ——√
Tony Clement * —√N
Patricia Davidson√√√√
Dean Del Mastro√√√√
Barry Devolin √√√
Richard Dykstra√√√N
Edward Fast √√√√
Diane Finley * Refused to say√N
Jim Flaherty√√—N
Steven Fletcher * —√N
Royal Galipeau√√√√
Cheryl Gallant√√√√
Shelly Glover ** ——√
Gary Goodyear√√√N
Jacques Gourde√—√N
Nina Grewal√√√√
Stephen Harper √√N
Richard Harris√√√√
Laurie Hawn √√N
Bryan Hayes√———
Russ Hiebert√√√√
Jim Hillyer√———
Randy Hoback√——√
Candice Hoeppner ** ——√
Brian Jean√Refused to say√√
Randy Kamp√√√√
Gerald Keddy * —√N
Jason Kenney√√√√
Ed Komarnicki√√√√
Daryl Kramp√√√√
Mike Lake √√√
Guy Lauzon√√√√
Denis Lebel * —√N
Kellie Leitch√———
Pierre Lemieux√√√√
Wladyslaw Lizon√———
Ben Lobb√——√
Tom Lukiwski√√√√
James Lunney√√√√
Peter MacKay √√N
Dave MacKenzie√—√N
Colin Mayes √√√
Phil McColeman√——√
Cathy McLeod√——N
Costas Menegakis√———
Ted Menzies√Refused to say√N
Rob Merrifield√Refused to say√√
Larry Miller √√√
James Moore√—√N
Rob Moore√√√√
Rob Nicholson√√√N
Rick Norlock —√√
Deepak Obhrai√—√N
Tilly O’Neill-Gordon√——√
Christian Paradis * —√N
LaVar Payne√——√
Pierre Poilievre  √√√√
Joe Preston √√√
James Rajotte√√√√
Scott Reid  √—√√
Blake Richards√——√
Gerry Ritz  √√√√
Andrew Scheer  √√√√
Gary Schellenberger * Refused to say√N
Kyle Seeback√———
Gail Shea ** ——√
Bev Shipley √√√√
Devinder Shory ** ——√
Joy Smith  √√√  (paired, absent)√
Kevin Sorenson  √√√√
Bruce Stanton √√N
Brian Storseth √√√
David Sweet√√√√
David Tilson * —√N
Vic Toews  √√√√
Bradley Trost  √√√√
Susan Truppe√———
Mervin Tweed √√√
Tim Uppal√——√
David Van Kesteren√√√√
Peter Van Loan √√√
Maurice Vellacott √√√√
Mike Wallace √√N
Mark Warawa√√√√
Chris Warkentin √√√
Jeff Watson  √√√√
John Weston ** ——√
Rodney Weston√——√
John Williamson√———
Alice Wong√——√
Stephen Woodworth√——√
Lynne Yelich  √√√√
Terence Young√——√
Liberal Party
Wayne Easter ***
(pro-choice)		 √NN
Jim Karygiannis √√√√
Kevin Lamoureux ** ——√
Lawrence MacAuley√√√√
John McKay √√√
Massimo Pacetti √√N
Francis Scarpallegia√Refused to say√N
Independent Conservative
Peter Goldring√√√√

*  These MPs voted in favour of Bill C-484 but have no other known public position on abortion. They may be either anti-choice or pro-choice, so they are not included in the totals (top of page), just in the above long list (In particular, John Baird and Michael Chong are pro-choice). (Please email info@arcc-cdac.ca if you have additional information.)

** These MPs voted in favour of Bill C-510 but have no other known public position on abortion. One or two may in fact be pro-choice (such as Shelly Glover). They are not included in the totals (top of page), just in the above long list. (Please email info@arcc-cdac.ca if you have additional information.)

*** These MPs were opposed to giving the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, according to a survey done by Campaign Life Coalition, but have no other known public position on abortion (except for Liberal MP Wayne Easter, who is pro-choice).

Column 1 — Anti-choice MPs were listed during or after the 2011 election. Criteria: They had an anti-choice voting record, or had publicly spoken at or attended events organized by anti-choice groups, or had publicly stated they are “pro-life” or would support abortion only in limited circumstances.

Column 2 — Whether the MP publicly opposed the awarding of the Order of Canada to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, according to a survey conducted by Campaign Life Coalition. (Note: Wayne Easter is pro-choice, as shown by his recent comment on the PEI abortion access situation.)

Column 3 — Whether the MP voted in favour of Bill C-484 (“Unborn Victims of Crime Act”) at 2nd reading in Parliament on March 5, 2008. (Note: Some pro-choice MPs voted in favour of Bill C-484, including Peter Stoffer (NDP) and Liberal MP’s John Cannis, Sukh Dhaliwal, and Francis Scarpallegia.)

Column 4 — Whether the MP voted in favour of Bill C-510 (“coerced abortion”) at 2nd reading in Parliament on December 15, 2010. Note: Harper whipped his Cabinet to vote against it, but 10 out of about 35 Cabinet members still voted in favour of it, as well as 77 of the rest of the Conservative caucus (and 10 Liberals).

List 3: Probable Anti-choice MPs

Listings are based on voting record, anti-choice designation in previous elections, partial survey responses to Campaign Life Coalition, indicative public statements, and/or statements made to individual constituents. They are all Conservatives unless otherwise noted, and newly-elected MPs are in bold. These MPs are also included on the Unknown list.

  • Steven Blaney
  • Ray Boughen
  • John Carmichael
  • Tony Clement
  • Parm Gill
  • Ed Holder
  • Kevin Lamoureux (Liberal)
  • Ben Lobb
  • Lawrence Toet
  • John Weston
  • Terence Young

Primary Sources:

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