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OTTAWA — Some unkind critics have questioned Justin Trudeau’s book smarts, but there can be few doubts about his practical intelligence – the ability to know what to say, when to say it and how to say it for maximum effect.

As such, it’s mystifying why his government has not softened its position on the summer jobs funding program that subsidizes around 70,000 student jobs every year.

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It’s apparent the Liberals are quite happy to be seen standing up for what Trudeau calls a woman’s right to abortion (even if no such right exists in the Charter).

But requiring applicants to attest they agree with the Liberal Party’s position on abortion in the funding application form has aggravated church and faith groups far beyond the targeted anti-abortion activists. Even the pro-choice group that originally urged the government to cut off those groups from funding — the Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada — now says the government should back down and remove the attestation requirement on the funding application, so that religious groups can access the program.