Earl Amyotte
| Earl Amyotte | |
|---|---|
| File:Torontomeeting.jpgFile:Torontomeeting.jpg | |
| Born | 1933 |
| February 2, 2007February 2, 2007 | |
| 💼 Occupation | |
Earl Amyotte (1933 – February 2, 2007) was a veteran Canadian pro-life activist. In 1984, he led the unregistered Pro-Life Party of Canada. Later, he sought provincial office as a candidate of the Family Coalition Party. Amyotte lived in Windsor, Ontario, and worked at a bank in Detroit, Michigan, USA during the 1980s and early 1990s.
Pro-life Party of Canada[edit]
Amyotte was registered as the leader of the Pro-Life Party of Canada with Elections Canada in March 1982,[1] but ultimately decided against fielding candidates in the 1984 general election. Amyotte said the party did not have the "time, effort or money" to field the fifty candidates required for official status. He was also quoted as saying, "We would need a war chest … and also the fact is we are still working on a platform. We would have to take a position on things like Petro-Canada and inflation and that takes time and effort" (Globe and Mail, 18 July 1984).
Campaign life[edit]
Amyotte served as director of the pro-life group Campaign Life in the late 1980s, and began a controversial policy of picketing the private homes of doctors who perform abortions (Windsor Star, 21 September 1989). In early 1990, he was found guilty of blocking a Michigan abortion clinic as part of a human chain organized by the group Operation Rescue. He later served a 25-day voluntary work program (Windsor Star, 1 September 1990). In relation to this controversy, Amyotte was quoted as saying, "For too long, pro-life groups have been respectable. They meet, eat and retreat. Some of us say no - we have to break the law" (Grand Rapids Press, 26 November 1990).
Political pursuit[edit]
He first campaigned for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in the 1990 provincial election, and received 889 votes in Windsor—Riverside for a fourth-place finish against Dave Cooke of the New Democratic Party. He was 57 years old at the time of the election (Windsor Star, 24 August 1990). During the campaign, he said that the views of major parties toward abortion had been conditioned by what he described as "feminists of the sabre-toothed variety" (Windsor Star, 27 August 1990).
He campaigned in Windsor—Sandwich in the 1995 provincial election, and received 610 votes (2.41%) for a fourth-place finish against Sandra Pupatello of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Catholics United for Life[edit]
In 1991 Amyotte formed the southeast Michigan branch of Catholics United for Life (CUL), headquartered in New Hope Kentucky, USA. The stated purpose of CUL is to pray and demonstrate at the site of abortion clinics.
Photographs used by Amyotte at pro-life demonstrations were briefly seized by customs officials as obscene material in 2002. Canada Customs later ruled that they were not obscene under the criminal code, and returned them (Broadcast News, 9 April 2002).
References[edit]
- ↑ Elections Canada, Office of the Registrar. Compiled by Yvon Clément, Archives and Enquires Unit, December, 1994. "Appendix 3: National Political Parties Registered Since 1972, and Leaders at Time of Registration." in C. Campbell and W. Christian, Parties, Leaders, and Ideologies in Canada. (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1996), 245-6.
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