UPDATE: 5:45 p.m.
After the publishing of this article Robert Mellalieu, Green Party candidate for Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, reached out to give his comments on the issue.
He said the statement he made in the report by PressProgress was misinterpreted.
乌鸦传媒淚 will never waiver from a woman乌鸦传媒檚 right to choose,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 sacrosanct, absolute, never changing that.乌鸦传媒�
He clarified the statement he made saying he believes 乌鸦传媒渢here should not be a need for abortion乌鸦传媒� was in reference to the lack of systems in place to help women in extreme situations.
乌鸦传媒淚 hate abortion,乌鸦传媒� said Mellalieu. 乌鸦传媒淪o I want to make sure there乌鸦传媒檚 everything we do as a society to prevent the need for a woman to exercise that right.乌鸦传媒�
He went on to explain that more services and education are needed so that abortion can be a last resort option.
乌鸦传媒淏ut at all times, it乌鸦传媒檚 still her right to do that,乌鸦传媒� he said.
____________
The New Democratic Party has taken aim at two Okanagan Green Party candidates for comments made regarding abortion rights that were published by an online political outlet earlier this week.
In an Oct. 3 press release, the NDP pointed out several instances of anti-choice rhetoric from Green Party candidates across the country, including Robert Mellalieu (Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola) and Marc Reinarz (North Okanagan-Shuswap).
According to an exclusive report by , Mellalieu refused to identify as 乌鸦传媒減ro-choice乌鸦传媒� or 乌鸦传媒減ro-life乌鸦传媒� because 乌鸦传媒渋t is inappropriate to dilute the very complicated question of abortion to a simple binary answer.乌鸦传媒� He then summed up his thoughts: 乌鸦传媒淚 believe there should not be a need for abortion.乌鸦传媒�
The report also contains a comment from Reinarz, who said: 乌鸦传媒渁bortion must not be a means to birth control.乌鸦传媒�
In an interview with Black Press Media, Reinarz said his sentiment is being misconstrued.
乌鸦传媒淭his is not anti-abortion,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淢y standpoint is absolutely not anti-abortion乌鸦传媒� I openly state that I don乌鸦传媒檛 think its right to use abortion as a primary (method of) birth control. But who am I as a man in his 60s to decide what the consequences are if (a woman) doesn乌鸦传媒檛 follow her mind?乌鸦传媒�
Mellalieu could not be reached for comment but the Green Party candidate from the neighbouring riding of Kelowna-Lake Country provided his thoughts on the issue.
乌鸦传媒�(Mellalieu乌鸦传媒檚) statement is pretty politically neutral,乌鸦传媒� he said.
乌鸦传媒淚 think what he might be saying is that if there were better social services in place, better ability for single moms to access affordable housing and they could make the decision to bring a child into this life knowing that they乌鸦传媒檇 be well taken care of, maybe there might not be such a need for abortion as there is now under the current system.乌鸦传媒�
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called the NDP乌鸦传媒檚 attempt to point fingers at candidates 乌鸦传媒渄esperate.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 not the case,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淲e are looking for details. We have no details about what they claim. We just know it is not true.乌鸦传媒�
When asked about what freedoms Greens will have when it comes to speaking about abortion, May said the party is asking candidates to 乌鸦传媒渁scribe乌鸦传媒� to the party乌鸦传媒檚 乌鸦传媒渃ore values乌鸦传媒� and its policy and platform.
乌鸦传媒淭here is a lot of room for people to move around on some issues,乌鸦传媒� she said.
But if would-be candidates have problems with abortion, she said they cannot run.
乌鸦传媒淎s leader of the party, I don乌鸦传媒檛 have the power to whip votes乌鸦传媒� we think whipping votes is anti-democratic. But I am quite confident that our candidates support the party乌鸦传媒檚 position, which that we mustn乌鸦传媒檛 retreat on a woman乌鸦传媒檚 right for a safe and legal abortion.
乌鸦传媒淭he bad old days of women dying in back-alley abortions must never return.乌鸦传媒�
May said the party did out would-be candidates because of their position on abortion.
乌鸦传媒淲e actually had one person nominated, who we had to ask to stand down.乌鸦传媒�
May said she felt bad about that decision because she was a very impressive candidate.
乌鸦传媒淏ut she said that she couldn乌鸦传媒檛 go along with it乌鸦传媒o we did have some people removed well before the NDP tried to pretend that there was an issue. And they have candidates who don乌鸦传媒檛 always agree with their positions. They whip votes; we don乌鸦传媒檛.乌鸦传媒�
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Abortion policy was a focus of Wednesday night乌鸦传媒檚 french debate. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer spent Thursday clarifying that he has no plans to reopen debates on abortion law, despite being 乌鸦传媒減ersonally pro-life.乌鸦传媒�
May called the abortion issue a media one, calling it 乌鸦传媒渕anufactured.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 hear it all from the public,乌鸦传媒� she said.
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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