Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/3/2019 (546 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Winnipeg MP MaryAnn Mihychuk unsuccessfully urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to halt last year’s controversial summer jobs "abortion pledge," the Free Press has learned.

Mihychuk, who had been Trudeau’s labour minister before she was shuffled out of cabinet, asked for a halt to a vague charter statement that social-conservative groups bemoaned, as they felt it required them to endorse ideas that conflict with their religious beliefs.

Groups applying for the Canada Summer Jobs program, which provides federally paid employment for young people, could not submit proposals online unless they checked the button next to the charter attestation, which some critics dubbed an "abortion pledge." Scores of groups decided against doing so.

"I would like to request that the attestation button be removed to quell the misinformation being spread," Mihychuk wrote to Trudeau in a January 2018 letter obtained through an access-to-information request.

She noted receiving 40 calls and emails from constituents who were "outraged and upset regarding what they perceive as a requirement to attest to supporting abortion."

Trudeau forwarded her concern to current Labour Minister Patty Hajdu, who did not revise the policy until this year’s round of applications.

For the Kildonan-St. Paul MP, the eventual changes were a success, even though they came a year later.

"The (attestation) last year resulted in negative consequences. Mistakes can happen," Mihychuk said Wednesday.

"I think the real story here is that change was made, and now groups are actively using the Canada Summer Jobs program."

Mihychuk said that last year, many Mennonites in her riding felt they could not apply for funding to help provide community services. The attestation made many "feel that it was in conflict with their ultimate values, and I know that is not what was meant," Mihychuk said.

"I worked with them, but it was still a huge issue."

Hajdu was not available for an interview, but her office said it consulted with faith groups, all MPs and Canada Summer Jobs applicants, following last winter’s controversy.

In the summer of 2018, there was a twelve-fold increase in rejections under the program from a year earlier, including First Nations, and Winnipeg churches that cut back on summer camps.

That year’s criteria asked employers to confirm that their "core mandate" respects charter values, including "reproductive rights" and not discriminating based on "sexual orientation or gender identity."

This year, the program restricts those who "undermine or restrict the exercise of rights legally protected in Canada."

The attestation now rules out those who "advocate intolerance, discrimination and/or prejudice" and "actively work to undermine or restrict a woman’s access to sexual and reproductive health services."

Mihychuk said she was proud of the reboot and grateful that groups are applying again.

The Liberals have claimed groups used the program in the past to help fund graphic anti-abortion protests and to campaign against gay marriage. The Conservatives have raised concerns about the program being used to support anti-pipeline groups.

Program spots are also available to non-students, and all postings are now listed in a centralized job bank online.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca