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.
sa国际传媒淚 will never waiver from a womansa国际传媒檚 right to choose,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淭hatsa国际传媒檚 sacrosanct, absolute, never changing that.sa国际传媒�
He clarified the statement he made saying he believes sa国际传媒渢here should not be a need for abortionsa国际传媒� was in reference to the lack of systems in place to help women in extreme situations.
sa国际传媒淚 hate abortion,sa国际传媒� said Mellalieu. sa国际传媒淪o I want to make sure theresa国际传媒檚 everything we do as a society to prevent the need for a woman to exercise that right.sa国际传媒�
He went on to explain that more services and education are needed so that abortion can be a last resort option.
sa国际传媒淏ut at all times, itsa国际传媒檚 still her right to do that,sa国际传媒� 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 sa国际传媒減ro-choicesa国际传媒� or sa国际传媒減ro-lifesa国际传媒� because sa国际传媒渋t is inappropriate to dilute the very complicated question of abortion to a simple binary answer.sa国际传媒� He then summed up his thoughts: sa国际传媒淚 believe there should not be a need for abortion.sa国际传媒�
The report also contains a comment from Reinarz, who said: sa国际传媒渁bortion must not be a means to birth control.sa国际传媒�
In an interview with Black Press Media, Reinarz said his sentiment is being misconstrued.
sa国际传媒淭his is not anti-abortion,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淢y standpoint is absolutely not anti-abortionsa国际传媒� I openly state that I donsa国际传媒檛 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) doesnsa国际传媒檛 follow her mind?sa国际传媒�
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.
sa国际传媒�(Mellalieusa国际传媒檚) statement is pretty politically neutral,sa国际传媒� he said.
sa国际传媒淚 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 theysa国际传媒檇 be well taken care of, maybe there might not be such a need for abortion as there is now under the current system.sa国际传媒�
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Green Party Leader Elizabeth May called the NDPsa国际传媒檚 attempt to point fingers at candidates sa国际传媒渄esperate.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚tsa国际传媒檚 not the case,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淲e are looking for details. We have no details about what they claim. We just know it is not true.sa国际传媒�
When asked about what freedoms Greens will have when it comes to speaking about abortion, May said the party is asking candidates to sa国际传媒渁scribesa国际传媒� to the partysa国际传媒檚 sa国际传媒渃ore valuessa国际传媒� and its policy and platform.
sa国际传媒淭here is a lot of room for people to move around on some issues,sa国际传媒� she said.
But if would-be candidates have problems with abortion, she said they cannot run.
sa国际传媒淎s leader of the party, I donsa国际传媒檛 have the power to whip votessa国际传媒� we think whipping votes is anti-democratic. But I am quite confident that our candidates support the partysa国际传媒檚 position, which that we mustnsa国际传媒檛 retreat on a womansa国际传媒檚 right for a safe and legal abortion.
sa国际传媒淭he bad old days of women dying in back-alley abortions must never return.sa国际传媒�
May said the party did out would-be candidates because of their position on abortion.
sa国际传媒淲e actually had one person nominated, who we had to ask to stand down.sa国际传媒�
May said she felt bad about that decision because she was a very impressive candidate.
sa国际传媒淏ut she said that she couldnsa国际传媒檛 go along with itsa国际传媒o we did have some people removed well before the NDP tried to pretend that there was an issue. And they have candidates who donsa国际传媒檛 always agree with their positions. They whip votes; we donsa国际传媒檛.sa国际传媒�
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Abortion policy was a focus of Wednesday nightsa国际传媒檚 french debate. Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer spent Thursday clarifying that he has no plans to reopen debates on abortion law, despite being sa国际传媒減ersonally pro-life.sa国际传媒�
May called the abortion issue a media one, calling it sa国际传媒渕anufactured.sa国际传媒�
sa国际传媒淚 donsa国际传媒檛 hear it all from the public,sa国际传媒� she said.
michael.rodriguez@kelownacapnews.com
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