They differ, however, on how they view their obligations as legislators to represent the wishes of constituents. Presumably, this means that Long would want MPs to vote their conscience, unless a consensus existed to the contrary, in which case an MP would be expected to vote against his conscience and for the consensus opinion of his constituents. But I have no right to demand that others accept it. Accordingly, he agrees with Long and Manning that candidates for Parliament must be clear about their convictions when seeking election. For example, many provincial premiers hold up the federal Canada Health Act as their excuse for not de-funding abortion in their province.
Federal politicians dodge the issue by claiming the issue is strictly one for the provinces.
As long as abortions are paid for by the taxpayer and this confusion remains, this issue of abortion funding will remain on both the federal and provincial agendas. Day said he supports cutting taxpayer funding of abortion and noted that he pushed for defunding as an Alberta cabinet minister. After five years in power, Long's provincial PC Party in Ontario has made no move to defund abortion in that province. On the question of protecting the freedom of religion for health care workers who are pressured to take part in abortion in violation of their consciences, Manning cited the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for his support of the principle of freedom of conscience and religion. Day committed to supporting measures to protect the rights of health care workers.