L'Ordre du Canada à Henry Morgentaler ?

Citation :

Le mardi 01 juillet 2008
L'Ordre du Canada serait remis à Henry Morgentaler
La Presse Canadienne
Toronto

..... La plupart des gens honorés ont été choisis à l'unanimité, ce qui ne fut pas le cas du Dr Morgentaler.
http://www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080701/CPACTUALITES/80701009/6730/CPACTUALITES

Ouin .... est-ce que c'est nécessaire de provoquer ceux qui jugent
que l'avortement est maintennant un moyen de contraception.

Citation :

Panel divided on crusader's nomination, vote suggests

JANE TABER AND GLORIA GALLOWAY AND CAROLINE ALPHONSO

From Thursday's Globe and Mail

July 3, 2008 at 1:08 AM EDT

OTTAWA and TORONTO — Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin permitted a rare recorded vote on whether to name abortion-rights activist Henry Morgentaler to the Order of Canada, an indication the independent advisory committee that usually operates by consensus was split on whether to grant him Canada's highest honour, sources said.

The sources said Chief Justice McLachlin drove the nomination, which was opposed by the two government members on the nine-member committee, Privy Council Clerk Kevin Lynch and deputy heritage minister Judith LaRocque.

Dr. Morgentaler has been nominated for appointment to the order several times before, but was rejected.

But at 85, and having recently suffered a severe stroke, there are concerns about his health. The honours are not made posthumously.

Speaking yesterday at his Toronto clinic, Dr. Morgentaler appeared frail but defended his appointment, which has been criticized by the Roman Catholic Church, some Conservative MPs and anti-abortion groups. And he spoke passionately about his decades-long battle for a woman's right to choose.

“I'm actually surprised that the reaction is not more violent than it is,” Dr. Morgentaler said a day after he was named to the order.

“There are many groups, especially on the fundamentalist right and the Catholic right, who are adamantly opposed to the right of women to have abortions, especially safe abortions.”

He acknowledged that Canadians will never have a unified view of abortion. But he said he hopes the controversy will diminish.

“The fact that some people are opposed on religious grounds mainly, well, that doesn't bother me as long as they're not allowed to influence other people by force or by whatever other means,” he said. “The situation is finally, in Canada, much better than in most other countries in the sense that abortion is legal and practised by good physicians under good conditions.”

The Harper government has distanced itself from Dr. Morgentaler's appointment, pointing out that Order of Canada appointments are announced by the governor-general on the recommendation of an independent advisory committee. The names are supposed to remain secret until publicly announced, but Tory MPs were issued talking points on Friday preparing them for a controversial appointment.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper reiterated that in his first public comments on the matter yesterday.

“It's not a decision of the government of Canada,” Mr. Harper said. “The Order of Canada – these decisions are made independently of the government. That said, I guess my preference, to be frank, would be to see the Order of Canada be something that really unifies, that brings Canadians together.”

Many of the concerns over Dr. Morgentaler's appointment were raised in the mid-1990s, when a previous nomination attempt was made.

A senior assistant to the Liberal heritage minister at the time, Sheila Copps, recalled yesterday that Ms. Copps was contacted by a feminist organization to support Dr. Morgentaler's nomination. She couldn't because she was a cabinet minister but wanted to learn how the decision-making process worked in case of any political fallout or controversy, the official said. She contacted her deputy minister, Suzanne Hurtubise, (she is now the deputy minister of public safety), who was a member of the advisory council, the official said.

“She put in a call to Suzanne who explained the process,” he said. “[Ms. Copps] had never come across an Order of Canada controversy because they are never controversial.”

Ms. Hurtubise told Ms. Copps that the committee made its decisions by consensus and suggested that she and the Privy Council clerk at the time, Jocelyn Bourgon, would not support his nomination, the official said.

The controversy over Dr. Morgentaler's appointment more than 10 years later highlights how divisive the abortion-rights debate remains in Canada. Supporters say it's about time Dr. Morgentaler was honoured, but the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops asked yesterday that the appointment be reconsidered.

“Far from improving our country, Mr. Morgentaler's actions continue to create controversy and division in our nation,” the bishops' statement read. “In the name of freedom of choice, he has encouraged the development of a culture of death and has thus attacked the most vulnerable, the unborn.”

Edmonton's Catholic Archbishop, Richard Smith, has written to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean to ask that the honour not be allowed to stand. In a brief statement, he said that naming Dr. Morgentaler to the Order of Canada “devalues” the honour and “offends all Canadians who recognize and treasure the precious gift of human life in the womb.”

One Order of Canada recipient has already returned his award in protest at Dr. Morgentaler's appointment. Father Lucien Larre, a Catholic priest in Coquitlam, B.C., who was named to the order 25 years ago after founding a group of homes for troubled youth, said yesterday that he was “trying to make a point that we have to be careful who we give this to,” since it should be “reserved for people who can be models or be inspiring for a majority of Canadians.”

Father Larre is no stranger to controversy himself. In 1992 he was convicted of the common assault of a resident of one of his youth homes and jailed for one day, and acquitted of nine other charges.

Christopher McCreery, the author of five books on the Canadian honours system, has gone through the minutes of the advisory committee meetings up to the early 1980s and has interviewed more than 20 former committee members.

“My understanding is it always worked on a consensus model,” Mr. McCreery said. In cases where a member disagreed with the majority decision, they would support whatever was ultimately decided, he said.

“One of the purposes of the order was to, not only recognize eminent citizens that rendered important services that benefited all of Canada, but also to foster a sense of unity within the order and nationally,” he said. “This one appointment seems to chip away at that to some degree.”

With reports from André Picard and Matthew Campbell

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080702.wmorgentaler0702/BNStory/National/

Et c'est reparti mon kiki.

Citation :

Parti conservateur
Les membres divisés sur la question de l'avortement
Mise à jour : 07/07/2008 09h19
Canoe
L'avortement ravive les tensions au sein du Parti conservateur. La nomination d'Henry Morgentaler à l'Ordre du Canada la semaine dernière a ravivé les tensions entre les pro-vie et les pro-choix au sein du parti.