Article content

For a leader who insists that his party won’t reopen debate on same-sex marriage, abortion and medically assisted dying, Conservative Andrew Scheer doesn’t make it easy for people to believe him.

His own unblemished voting record of opposing same-sex marriage and abortion is a stumbling block. So is his promise to allow members of Parliament to speak freely and potentially introduce private members’ bills on these issues.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Daphne Bramham: Candidates' views on conversion therapy, abortion raise questions about Scheer's promise to leave social issues alone Back to video

It doesn’t help that party members only narrowly defeated a motion at the 2018 convention that would have overturned the status quo policy that a Conservative government would not regulate abortion.

Then, there’s the unbridled support by RightNow. Opposed to abortion and medically assisted dying, the group’s goal is to elect 170 sympathetic MPs — a majority plus one. This election, it is targeting 50 swing ridings, most of which are in B.C. and Ontario.

Which brings us to some of the candidates that Scheer and the Tories have allowed and even encouraged to run.