"I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it." The quote, attributed to Voltaire, gets pulled out a lot to back freedom of speech arguments. This time is no exception.
Conservative MP Mark Warawa rose in the House of Commons this past week to ask the speaker of the house to rule that his privileges as an MP had been violated because his party's leadership was not allowing him to speak on an emotional issue he feels strongly about.
The emotional issue is abortion.
Warawa is vociferously anti-abortion, or anti-choice, depending upon your personal take on the always controversial subject.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has publicly said he will not re-open the abortion debate.
And he surely doesn't want his troops whipping up a controversy that might be used in an anti-Conservative campaign.
Conservative party leaders likened gagging Warawa to making sure that the 'team' kept to the game plan. There were a lot of analogies to "sitting on the bench" and referees.
It's no secret that political parties orchestrate debate in the House of Commons. While it may not be scripted word-for-word, the players all know their parts and usually stick to them.
Warawa doesn't want to stick to the script, and he, in our opinion, is right. He is accountable to his constituents. If he thinks he's acting on their behalf and they want him to ignite the abortion debate - then no party hack should stop him.
Green Party leader Elizabeth May said Warawa's battle is very important. She is quoted as saying, "It cuts to the core of what is wrong with parliamentary democracy."
NDP House Leader Nathan Cullen said his party does not vet statements made by its MPs in the 15 minutes prior to question period. But we doubt very much if NDP MPs ever stray far from their scripts.
We say, let Warawa speak. If he can't shut up - that's another matter - but, for now, he should rightly exercise his freedom of speech.
