EDMONTON—United Conservative Party (UCP) leader Jason Kenney said his party will not be debating or introducing changes to abortion legislation if elected. His comments come after a prominent anti-choice group publicly voiced their support for the UCP as their pick for Alberta’s upcoming election.

Kenney told reporters on Tuesday that his party won’t consider changing funding for abortion, or any legislation currently in place.

“A United Conservative government will not address this issue, will not engage in this debate, will not initiate legislation,” Kenney said at a media scrum, following a speech he made to members of Alberta’s restaurant industry in Edmonton.

Kenney’s comments follow a blog post earlier this month by The Wilberforce Project, an anti-choice advocacy group in Alberta, which stated their support for the UCP and encouraged their members to vote in the party’s nomination process ahead of the election, with six ridings pending a candidate.

In the post, Wilberforce political co-ordinator Cameron Wilson wrote: “... if the UCP wins the upcoming election, then we will have the most pro-life legislature in decades, and maybe ever.” The registered non-profit has advocated for legislation restricting abortion in Alberta for decades, and has worked behind the scenes to help aspiring, like-minded politicians get their names on ballots.

Kenney maintained on Tuesday that abortion is not an issue him or his candidates have focused on. “I can't think of talking to any of our candidates about that issue,” he said. “ ... In my two and a half, nearly three years doing this work, that's not an issue that's come up on the road from candidates or activists.”

He added that, if elected, his party’s stance on abortion will be similar to that of the Stephen Harper government, or previous Progressive Conservative government’s in Alberta.

Following a federal announcement in New Brunswick in 2014, Harper said of his stance on abortion that his Conservative party understands "the Canadian people have different, often conflicting views on issues like this, deeply held views — and all such views are welcome in the Conservative Party of Canada.”

Bruce Foster, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, told the Star that Harper’s approach was to “provide a sympathetic ‘ear’” to anti-abortion activist groups to garner their support, while understanding that taking any real action isn’t worth the more considerable political risk.

“These activists may well expect that something should come of their attachment to and support of a party, but in the world of Realpolitik, this will take a back seat to political and electoral pragmatism,” Foster said.

Kenney said his candidates remain focused on “on jobs and the economy and growth in Alberta,” rather than policy changes surrounding abortion.

He added “so-called” social conservatives within the party are not talking about policy changes, but rather want a hands-off government “when it comes to certain constitutionally protected freedoms of conscience and religion.”

—With files from Claire Theobald

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Nadine Yousif is a reporter/photographer for Star Edmonton. Follow her on twitter: @nadineyousif_

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