Minister of International Co-operation Bev Oda defended the Tories' maternal and child health initiative, a day after it came under attack from two key members of the G8.
"No, it's not dead," Oda said, when asked whether the initiative would be scrapped. "Many countries have chosen different ways of improving progress along helping mothers and children, and every country will choose how it can best help in the international effort."
"Canada will choose ways that will gain results, and will not include abortion," she said on CTV's Power Play.
Oda was responding to comments from U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said Tuesday that Washington would not support the plan if it excludes abortion.
"You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health, and reproductive health includes contraception and family planning and access to legal, safe abortion," Clinton told reporters at a meeting of G8 foreign ministers in Quebec.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband echoed Clinton's criticism at the meeting, stating that his government did not want to see abortion excluded.
That forced Prime Minister Stephen Harper to also defend the initiative on Wednesday. The maternal and child health initiative is "supported throughout the G8," he said, but member states "will have different priorities in terms of the specific things they fund, particularly on the issue of abortion."
The recent G8 foreign ministers meeting covered a range of other issues, particularly terrorism. Two of the main topics were the security threats posed by North Korea and Iran -- the latter of which is a growing concern as Tehran moves closer to realizing its nuclear ambitions.
The threat of instability due to Iran's nuclear enrichment program has even drawn the attention of China and Russia, two members of the UN Security Council who will have influence on the way G8 nations respond to the issue.
The foreign ministers also spent time discussing the progress in Afghanistan, where G8 nations and other NATO members continue to train Afghan troops, support its delicate government and fight the influence of Taliban fighters and other insurgents.
University of Toronto professor John Kirton said Canada received kudos for its efforts in Afghanistan, and for its plans to become increasingly involved in development and civilian work as its military mission winds down over the next year.
Both that and Canada's lead role on a new Afghanistan-Pakistan border prosperity initiative "got a very strong thumbs-up from everybody at the G8 table," Kirton told CTV's Canada AM during an interview in Toronto on Wednesday morning.
Kirton said that hearing such blunt talk from Clinton shows how open the U.S. diplomat feels she can be with some of her closest allies.
"We always have to remember that when our friends from America and Britain come to Canada, even if they have the ominous title of foreign minister or foreign secretary on their business cards, they are really a part of the family," he said.
"So, they engage in debate on the great issues of the day as much as we Canadians do at home."
With files from The Canadian Press
