Essex MP Jeff Watson, August 5, 2014. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle.)Essex MP Jeff Watson, August 5, 2014. (Photo by Adelle Loiselle.)
Windsor

Essex MP Jeff Watson Open Letter

Full open letter from Essex MP Jeff Watson in reply to an open letter from Jeff Durham, father of the expected baby of murdered Cassandra Kaake, calling for the passing of the Unborn Victims of Crime Act:

Dear Jeff Durham,

Thank your for your recent open letter.

First, let me express my deepest condolences to you - and also to the family and friends of Cassandra and Molly Kaake - as you grieve the loss of both.

I want you to know, in answer to your question, that not only did Cassandra's life matter, but Molly's life mattered to me. In fact, her life mattered to me before she was ever conceived.

In 2008, a colleague of mine in the House of Commons at that time, Ken Epp, sponsored a Private Member's Bill C-484 - The Unborn Victims of Crime Act. I supported that Bill.

As you have discovered since Molly's death, Canada's Criminal Code stipulates that one isn't a human being until he or she has fully exited the mother's body. In the case of Cassandra's murder, the Criminal Code doesn't recognize Molly's humanity. Thus, there is only the single charge - the murder of Cassandra.

It's hard to imagine such cognitive dissonance in Canada. In this case a mother and a biological father - and many surrounding each - prepare for the arrival of what they know is a baby, was always a baby, and was, at some seven months of pregnancy, obvious to others, including the one charged in Cassandra's murder, a baby. Yet many continue to insist Molly was never a baby, at any point in her gestational development, and that Canadian law should not be amended to recognize that a crime was committed against Molly.

I remember vividly the debate on - but also surrounding - the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. The UVCA was specifically written to apply only when, in the commission of a murder of the woman, it was reasonable to know the woman to be pregnant. Still, well-organized special interest groups rose up, with their political allies, in vociferous opposition. The UVCA passed a vote at 2nd Reading. But it is less clear - had that parliament not been interrupted by an election and the recession that sideswiped our country - that it would have cleared two Committees and secured the remaining votes necessary in both the House and Senate in order to become law?

I applaud the efforts of those, including you, who have stepped forward to insist that parliament resurrect - and pass - the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. I, like you, believe we can right this injustice.

To do so will take more than signing a petition or sending emails - though both steps should be taken. Rather, it will take those who grieve Molly's murder to actively forge a strong consensus of Canadians - in all regions of the country - to demand justice for Molly; to overpower the strident voices of those who will seek to drag this call for justice into the quagmire of abortion politics; and to vault this to the front burner of parliamentarians.

Warm Regards, Jeff Watson, MP Essex

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