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Etobicoke-Lakeshore Riding Report

By Tony Gosgnach

See 2-page PDF version at http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006_docs/EtobicokeLakeshore...

It was supposed to have been a cakewalk for a star candidate – and future leadership prospect – parachuted in from the U.S. to serve as the Liberal Party’s representative in the Toronto riding of Etobicoke-Lakeshore in the federal election Jan. 23. But Michael Ignatieff is fighting both problems plaguing his own efforts and declining Liberal fortunes at the national level as the final days of the campaign wind down.

The Harvard academic’s campaign train became mired from the start, when accusations were hurled at his nomination that Prime Minister Paul Martin was manipulating the process to ensure Ignatieff’s victory. Then the rookie candidate was assailed in the media, including by Sun Media columnist Michael Harris, who suggested Ignatieff “carries more baggage than a mule in a taxi strike.” Another hurdle was thrown in front of him when Ukrainian-Canadians charged they were insulted by a 1994 book he had written on ethnic nationalism, Blood and Belonging.

Conservative Party candidate John Capobianco is poised to capitalize on Ignatieff’s troubles. He also has the advantage of having run in the 2004 election against then-Liberal MP Jean Augustine, who is retiring. Political columnist Jim Travers of the left-leaning Toronto Star newspaper suggests the Liberals are facing “desperate times in Toronto,” which may play into the hands of Conservatives like Capobianco.

The Etobicoke-Lakeshore riding stretches from Lake Ontario in the south to Mimico Creek, Burnhamthorpe Road and Dundas Street West in the north, Highway 427 and Etobicoke Creek in the west and the Humber River in the east.

The Candidates and Life and Family Issues

Conservative John Capobianco	Liberal Michael Ignatieff	NDP Liam McHugh-Russell	Green Phil Ridge
Pro-life without exceptions and supports the traditional definition of marriage.	A strong supporter of same-sex "marriage." Rated pro-abortion by Campaign Life Coalition	A strong supporter of the homosexual agenda. Party is officially pro-abortion.	A supporter of the homosexual agenda. Party is pro-abortion, according to its leader.

Conservative – John Capobianco

Married with one daughter, the 40-year-old Capobianco has worked his way up to become a vice-president and group leader for Hill & Knowlton, one of Canada’s best-known strategic consulting firms. He has been active in numerous community endeavours, including with the Etobicoke Rotary Club, the Etobicoke Community Care Access Centre, the Etobicoke Chamber of Commerce and the community advisory panel for the Trillium Health Centre.

Capobianco is attracting the attention of voters concerned with life and family matters as the only candidate in the riding who supports their views. He scored perfectly in a questionnaire on life and family issues sent to him by Campaign Life Coalition, the national political arm of the Canadian pro-life movement.

Capobianco’s support for the traditional definition of marriage has won him the endorsement of Vote Marriage Canada, a non-partisan organization that has former Liberal MP Pat O’Brien serving as a co-chair. The national homosexual lobby organization Equality for Gays And Lesbians Everywhere, meanwhile, gives him an “F” (failing) grade for not supporting the homosexual agenda.

Liberal – Michael Ignatieff

The 58-year-old Ignatieff is married to Zsuzanna and is a scholar, writer and journalist. A life-long Liberal, he worked on the leadership campaign of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. An author of 17 books, he has also been active on the international stage, advising governments and serving on the International Commission on Kosovo, the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty and the World Economic Forum.

Ignatieff has been a strong supporter of same-sex “marriage” from the start. At the federal Liberal Party policy convention in Ottawa in March 2005, he gave a rallying speech calling on fellow party members to support gay “marriage.” He repeated his pro-same-sex “marriage” sentiments at an all-candidates meeting on January 12, 2006. His support for the overall homosexual agenda has won Ignatieff a “B” grade in a candidate assessment by EGALE.

Ignatieff has not responded to a Campaign Life Coalition questionnaire to determine his position on human life issues. However, he recently told a CLC activist he believes abortion should be legal. In his 2000 book The Rights Revolution, he noted that, “Canada has become one of the most distinctive rights cultures in the world.” One of the elements that makes that culture distinctive, he wrote, is our “pro-choice” legal code on abortion. Ignatieff is rated as ‘pro-abortion’ by Campaign Life Coalition.

NDP – Liam McHugh-Russell

A law student at the University of Toronto, McHugh-Russell has worked for the University of Waterloo, the Bank of Nova Scotia and with technology and consulting firms. He is co-chair of Ontario New Democratic Youth and sits on the Ontario Federation of Labour’s under-30 committee.

EGALE has given McHugh-Russell a top (A) grade in its assessment of his support for the overall homosexual agenda in Canada. This includes elements such as rights for trans-sexuals, a national day against homophobia and the decriminalization of all private sexual activities between consenting adults. McHugh-Russell has not responded to a Campaign Life Coalition questionnaire on human life issues.

However, many NDP candidates in the current campaign are distributing a signed statement from party leader Jack Layton, in which he commits all his candidates to an agenda that includes “women’s right to self-determination in every sense, with respect to ‘reproductive choices’ (abortion) … in certain situations, physician-assisted death … (and) a commitment to same-sex ‘marriage.’”

Green – Phil Ridge

Married with two children, first-time candidate Ridge is a consultant for Energuide for Houses and has worked in various senior management positions in the telecommunications industry. He has been active in fundraising for organizations such as the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Covenant House and the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

Ridge has received an “A-“ grade from EGALE for his support of the overall homosexual agenda in Canada, which includes rights for trans-sexuals, a national day against homophobia and the decriminalization of all private sexual activities between consenting adults. His party’s leader, Jim Harris, has on at least two occasions publicly declared the Green Party’s support for same-sex “marriage” and “a woman’s right to choose” on abortion.

The Green Party’s fundamental principles also commit the party to “giving both men and women greater control over their fertility” and recognition of, and respect for, “sexual minorities.”

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