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OTTAWA — In a letter to an employer in his Ontario riding, a Liberal MP says his own government is wrongly invoking the Charter of Rights and Freedoms on its controversial Canada Summer Jobs attestation, and calls the whole thing “regrettable” and a “lamentable state of affairs.”

The newly added clause requires applicants for the grant program to declare their core mandate respects “the values underlying the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” and goes on to specifically mention reproductive rights, which means access to abortions.

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“In my riding of Scarborough-Guildwood, I am personally aware of a number of organizations negatively impacted,” says the letter from John McKay, who is known to be pro-life.

“I consider this to be a lamentable state of affairs, and have expressed my views both inside and outside caucus in the strongest possible terms.”

The employer, who runs a publishing business and provided the letter on condition his name not be used, had written to McKay four times to express dismay over the attestation.