More than three years after his failed attempt to have Parliament oppose sex-selective abortions, Langley-Aldergrove MP Mark Warawa is making another attempt to get a vote on the issue.
Warawa has served notice he will be introducing a private member's bill that calls for Parliament to condemn "a violent form of gender-based discrimination, known as sex selection."
He said he was "hoping for better results" this time.
"We have a Prime Minister who identifies as feminist," Warawa told the Times.
"We'll see if actions speak louder than words."
When Warawa first tried to get a debate and vote by MPs on an identical proposal in 2013, it was blocked twice, first by a subcommittee of the Procedure and House Affairs Committee, then by the committee itself, which declared the motion non-voteable.
At the time, some opposition MPs said the Warawa bill was an attempt to reopen the debate over a woman's right to an abortion.
"It wasn't about abortion, it was about discrimination against girls," Warawa said.
"I am not looking for legislative change."
The dispute ended when Warawa withdrew the "gendercide" proposal and substituted the "Safe at Home Bill” which bans child sexual offenders from serving a house arrest sentence near a victim’s dwelling.
That law was passed and took effect in 2014.
Now, Warawa is hoping there will be a vote on his revived bill to condemn sex-selection abortion next fall, when it will be his turn on the commons schedule for private member's bills.
"It is a global crisis" Warawa said.
“Numerous studies and documentaries are revealing that sex selection is occurring in Canada," he added.
Warawa has in the past said he was moved to act by a CBC hidden-camera investigation that found a number of private ultrasound clinics in Canada were using the scans to determine the sex of an unborn child. Often the pregnancy would be terminated if the child was female.
“The world has become a very dangerous place for girls because many prefer boys over girls," Warawa said.