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It’s nonsense, of course. The Liberals are importing a conveniently timed U.S. political narrative into Canada for entirely political reasons, not because it applies here. Polls in America routinely track public views on abortion, and to absolutely no one’s surprise, the states that are proceeding with laws to restrict abortion are ones where there is broad public support for greater restrictions. In Canada, the opposite is true. More than three-quarters of Canadians support access to abortion. Many of them are undoubtedly uncomfortable with absolutely no legal framework around abortion at all, but the reality is that opinion polls show that more than half of Canadians support access to abortion without any restrictions at all (as per a 2017 Ipsos survey). Only five per cent of Canadians oppose it in any circumstance.

Still, to listen to the Liberals of late, Andrew Scheer and the Conservatives are just itching to import laws from Alabama and slap them into Canadian legislation. It’s the hidden agenda all over again. Scheer and the Conservatives have been clear they wouldn’t re-open the debate in Canada, and you don’t have to trust in their better natures to be confident that they won’t. The Canadian electorate is not the same as the voters in Alabama or Georgia. The facts on the ground are different, and Canadian politicians, whatever their personal views, would tread carefully for that reason. It’s clearly an issue the Conservatives would prefer not to touch.

But facts are inconvenient things. The Liberals are down, their prime minister’s feminist bona fides tattered. The news out of the U.S. and Mike Pence’s visit to Ottawa were a perfect opportunity for a little grandstanding on an issue that Canada and Trudeau have absolutely no ability to meaningfully change, but that might — might — help shore up Liberal polling numbers.

It would be nice to expect more from the prime minister. But we don’t.

National Post