OTTAWA -- A group of anti-abortion activists was forced to leave a petition calling for the revocation of Dr. Henry Morgentaler's Order of Canada award at the gates of Rideau Hall Wednesday afternoon.
No official from the Governor General's official residence was on hand to accept the 30,000 signatures that had been collected by the Silent No More Campaign.
A small group protests Morgentaler’s honour outside Rideau Hall Wednesday.
National co-ordinator Angelina Steenstra said she was not disappointed with the turnout of 30 or so activists since the petition showed how many people across the country support their position.
The group is also calling for a review of how the Order is awarded.
Morgentaler almost single-handedly pushed abortion rights onto the national agenda when he opened an illegal abortion clinic in Montreal in 1969. At one point, he was jailed for 10 months when a higher court overturned a lower-court acquittal.
The issue culminated in a landmark ruling in January 1988, in which the Supreme Court struck down anti-abortion provisions of the Criminal Code on the grounds they violate a woman's constitutional right to "security of person."
In the intervening years, Morgentaler had been put forward for the Order of Canada several times. But when it was announced on July 1 that he had finally been given the award, it immediately spilled gasoline on Canada's heated and ongoing debate over abortion.
Since then, several members have returned their awards to protest the decision, including ex-New Brunswick lieutenant-governor Gilbert Finn.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin, who is head of the advisory council that selects Order of Council, became a particular target. A coalition of 42 religious and family-values groups have filed a complaint against McLachlin with the Canadian Judicial Council, the body that polices judges, seeking her removal from the bench.
Last week, she took the unusual step of speaking publicly on the matter, saying she had been the victim of "misinformation."
"My view is that I'm there to make sure that the meeting runs well and fairly and that the vote is taken fairly and not to weigh in for or against a particular candidate," she said.
-- Canwest News Service
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