Article content

OTTAWA — New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen has apologized for criticizing the Trudeau government’s decision to force groups applying for summer-job grants to affirm their respect for a woman’s right to have an abortion.

The apology came hours after Cullen criticized the way the Liberals added the new requirement to the Canada Summer Jobs program, which helps employers subsidize the cost of hiring students for summer work.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or NDP MP apologizes for comments on abortion-rights requirement in jobs program Back to video

The requirement stipulates that an applicant must affirm that both the job description and the group’s core mandate respect human rights, including reproductive rights.

Cullen initially called the new requirement “offensive” during a news conference on Wednesday, and compared it to the Harper government’s decision to cut funding for foreign aid groups that supported abortion.

But he took to Twitter a few hours later to say he was sorry “for the harm from my comments,” and asserted that he and the federal NDP are “fiercely pro-choice.”