Ottawa

Rona Ambrose responds, sort of

At the very end of Question Period this afternoon, the Bloc’s Andre Bellavance stood and asked if, after last night’s vote on Motion 312, Rona Ambrose would be resigning as the minister responsible for the status of women. Ms. Ambrose responded without addressing her vote.

Mr. Speaker, it is interesting that this is the first question that I have received on the Status of Women file this year. In fact, I think this is the first question I have received since last year as well. Do you know why that is, Mr. Speaker?

It was around this point that a voice from somewhere on the opposition side yelled out something like “you’re useless” or “because you’re useless.”

It is because this government has an incredible track record of standing up for Canadian women and girls. We have increased the funding to the Status of Women to its highest point in Canadian history. So far, in just a couple of years, we have funded over 550 projects from coast to coast to coast to tackle violence against women and empower women and girls, and we will continue to do just that.

I emailed Ms. Ambrose’s office earlier today to ask if there was a statement from the minister on last night’s vote, but I have not received a response. The only explanation so far is this tweet.

I have repeatedly raised concerns about discrimination of girls by sex selection abortion: no law needed, but we need awareness!

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