A Canadian anti-abortion group is raising a toast after bringing in tens of thousands of dollars at a fundraising gala with help from one of Pierre Poilievre’s Conservative MPs.
RightNow, a social conservative group that campaigns to elect anti-abortion candidates, says it raised $77,000 last week after hosting a fundraising gala at St. Ann’s Roman Catholic Church in Abbotsford, British Columbia headlined by Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis.
“Last Thursday was unforgettable,” the group said in an email to supporters this week, adding they were “honoured to hear from our special guest, Dr. Leslyn Lewis.”
During her keynote address, Lewis thanked the anti-abortion group for its “hard work” and “leadership” doing behind-the-scenes campaign organizing to support anti-abortion candidates.
“Your energy in defending the value of dignity and human life means so much to our nation and to future generations,” the Conservative MP said.
The bulk of Lewis’ speech focused on drawing connections between the struggle against abortion and the existential threat to life posed by artificial intelligence.
Founded in 2016, RightNow says its mission is focused on “nominating and electing pro-life politicians” across Canada. “By mobilizing voters, training volunteers and building effective campaign teams, RightNow works to elect pro-life leaders at every level of government.”
The group’s website contains explicit calls to defund abortion procedures and “criminalize abortion.” It’s also made headlines over its unorthodox tactics aimed at taking over conservative parties from within. RightNow previously plotted to help anti-abortion activists stack leadership and nomination votes, take over conservative riding associations, recruit summer interns and staffers for conservative political offices as well as install anti-abortion activists into internal party leadership roles.
According to the gala’s website, the anti-abortion group sold table sponsorships that included access to a special “VIP pre-dinner reception” with Lewis. Guests seeking face time with the Conservative MP could also be seated at the head table with Lewis for $5,000.
The fundraising gala, which was also attended by Conservative MP Tamara Jansen, featured speeches from the anti-abortion group’s founders and video greetings from conservative politicians.
Ontario agriculture minister Sam Oosterhoff beamed himself into the dinner via a pre-recorded video, crediting the group with helping him secure his nomination as an Ontario PC candidate in 2016 and later electing him to the Ontario legislature while he was still a teenager.
“It’s hard to believe that 10 years ago this month we were out knocking doors in my by-election in Niagara West and that it was at the very beginning of the journey that RightNow has been on,” Oosterhoff said. “I want to acknowledge and thank their team for their tireless efforts over the years.”
“RightNow has had an amazing track record in ensuring that we have strong conservative voices at the table in provincial legislatures, in the federal parliament and in small communities across this province.”
The group’s founders, Scott Hayward and Alissa Golob, also took turns boasting about the group’s influence over the last decade.
“We continued helping elect pro-life representatives to provincial legislatures across Canada, including right here in British Columbia last month,” Hayward said, adding that they’ve “seen pro-life representation grow in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and New Brunswick.”
The group also shared a graphic claiming they’ve helped the conservatives elect “over 90 pro-life members of parliament in the House of Commons.”
In addition to highlighting a series of “undercover videos” she filmed inside Canadian abortion clinics, Golob shared stories about behind-the-scenes work the group has done, including a previously undisclosed project aimed at stacking the judiciary with “pro-life” judges.
“Some of our most important work happens when nobody sees it,” Golob confided to guests. “We’re not just preparing to win elections. We’re preparing for what happens when we do.”
Anticipating Andrew Scheer’s Conservatives might form government after the 2019 federal election, something that ultimately failed to materialize, Golob said they had quietly undertaken work to “research the birthdays of all 1,165 federally-appointed judges.”
Since “federally-appointed judges must retire at the age of 75,” Golob explained that they “mapped out upcoming vacancies and compiled thousands of qualified pro-life lawyers who would be considered for appointments.”
“Appointments matter and elections have consequences,” Golob said.
