Posted by Cheryl Gallant on 6/9/2004, 3:37 pm, in reply to "Stephen Harper's Calgary pep talk: dynamic, or disastrous?" Last Updated Sun, 06 Jun 2004 21:24:04 EDT Conservative House Leader John Reynolds downplayed comments Sunday by his Tory colleague calling for the repeal of Canada's new law. In an interview with CTV News, Ottawa-area MP Cheryl Gallant said she opposed the new law, that was recently amended to include sexual orientation as one of the protected groups. "The danger in having sexual orientation just listed, that encompasses, for example, pedophiles," Gallant said. "I believe that the caucus as a whole would like to see it repealed," she said. But Reynolds said Gallant was expressing her own views, and that her comments are not party policy. "I'm the House leader and I've seen no line-up of letters in my office asking us to repeal that law," Reynolds told CTV News. "It's a bill that passed the House of Commons." "She'll have every right to bring that up with a new caucus in Ottawa – which will be greater in numbers. But it's certainly not something that is going to get us off an agenda." Gallant is the latest Conservative MP candidate to express an opinion that later had to be clarified by leader Stephen Harper as not being party policy. Last week, Conservative health critic Rob Merrifield said women should seek independent counselling before having an abortion. Also last week, Hamilton Mountain Conservative candidate Tom Jackson spoke out in favour of the death penalty. Harper said his party would not introduce legislation on either issue but that they could be put to a free vote in the House of Commons. Last month, Scott Reid resigned as the Conservative party's official languages critic after saying bilingual services would be reduced if the Conservatives form the next government.
Conservative MP calls for repeal of hate law
TORONTO - In what is becoming a repeated pattern, a senior Conservative official was forced to distance the party from a candidate's controversial remarks – this time about Canada's amended hate law.
