Green Party drops anti-abortion candidate in Ontario riding

The Green Party of Canada is dropping its candidate in theeastern Ontario riding ofGlengarry-Prescott-Russell over comments she made online about abortion.

Green Party spokesperson John Chenery said the party voted Sunday nightto remove Marthe Lpine and asked her to cease representing herself as a Green candidate. Butthe party missed the deadline to remove her name from the ballot.

Chenerysaid Lpine had posted views about abortion that did not mesh with the Green Party'spolicies.

"The Green Party will always fight for access to timely, safe, legal abortions," he later said in a statement.

"It recently came to light through social media posts that Ms. Lpine does not support this position, so she has been removed as a candidate."

Lpinesaid she has left comments onCatholic blogs but insistedthey areinnocuous. She said she believes in improving women's living conditions so that they don't seek abortions.

"My Catholic view is that abortion is a bad thing," she said. "I understand some people feel like they have no real choice ... it should be avoided as much as possible."

Lpinesaid the party told her by phone last night she was being dropped over her values, but she terminated the call before the party official could elaborate.

"I think it's basicallyflagrant discrimination because I'm Catholic, so they're afraid I'd say something that upsets them."

Ongoing issue

It's not the first time the party has had to deal with anti-abortion views in the ranks during this campaign.

Chatham-Kent-Leamington candidate Mark Vercouterenwas forced to answer questions about anti-abortion statements he made in two Campaign Life Coalition questionnaires in one case as recently as the 2018 Ontario provincial election campaign.

Vercouterentold CBC he "doesn't remember" making those comments.

The Green Party issued a statement early on in the campaigninsisting there is "zero chance" of an elected Green MP reopening the abortion debate.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May told Power & Politicsthat elected members of her party would not be prevented from trying to reopen the debate on abortion in the next Parliament, despite her own stated belief that "a woman has a right to a safe, legal abortion."