Some Canada Mail Carriers Don’t Want to Deliver Graphic Anti-Abortion Attack Ads Against Trudeau

This article originally appeared on VICE Canada.

Some Canada Post letter carriers in Saskatoon are upset with the graphic anti-abortion flyers they've had to deliver that feature a picture of Liberal leader Justin Trudeau and an aborted human fetus.

The flyer reads "A vote for Justin Trudeau is a vote for this," referring to an aborted fetus. The flyer is delivered in a sealed white envelope that says "important election notice information enclosed." This is not the first time that Trudeau has been faced with this kind of attack ad.

The flyers came from the campaign No2Trudeau, which is a joint initiative between the organization Life Coalition Youth and Canadian Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform (CCBR). CCBR also feature graphic images on their site, and they describe their focus as "making the killing of pre-born human beings unthinkable."

According to CTV News, at least four workers have refused to deliver the same flyers that were already circulated before, in June. The majority of the one million flyers sent out have been delivered by staff and volunteers from the CCBR. However, because they could not deliver to condos and apartments, they has Canada Post deliver those for them.

VICE spoke to Maaike Rosendal, the campus outreach director at CCBR about the campaign.

"Justin Trudeau publicly supported abortion during all nine months of pregnancy and then also has required his MPs to do so, regardless of what their constituents wants them to do. We decided to initiate the No2Trudeau campaign so people could see what he supports," Rosendal told VICE.

She said that flyers were sent to 20 ridings across five different provinces, and although they have wrapped up the campaign since they are not registered as a third party, they might decide to continue to do more work as the elections continue.

Julee Sanderson, president of Canadian Union of Postal Workers Local 824, has said that workers are upset about the graphic imagery displayed on the flyers.

"CUPW supports our members who feel they have a legitimate concern that a corporation like Canada Post should work to preserve family values," she said on Wednesday.

But letter carriers who refuse service could face consequences from Canada Post.

A spokesperson for Canada Post, said that "We are responsible for the physical delivery of all mail in Canada. We do not have the legal right to refuse delivery of a mail item because we or other people object to its content."

Rosendal has said that Canada Post has assured CCBR that their mail will be delivered. She says that the organization chose the graphic images without a trigger warning to show the truth about what Trudeau believes in.

"If people are concerned about the graphic nature of these images and about how difficult it is to look at these images, my questions would be why are we allowing this in the first place?" she said.

One of the workers who is refusing service, Alicia Morin, has said that her choice is not based politically, but she does not feel comfortable delivering the sensitive content to families. She has also made clear that she is willing to accept any discipline that may result from her actions.

She could be suspended for three to five days without pay.

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