October 5, 1999 was a red letter day for Toronto Free Press. That was the day, the mighty Ottawa Citizen reprinted, in almost its entirety, our Sept. 14-27 cover story, "Doctor Morgentaler: $5-Million Man" with both a byline and full TFP credit.
Investigative, Toronto Free Press has broken many stories, picked up by other newspapers without courtesy of byline or credit.
The Ottawa Citizen, edited by the talented and choosy Neil Reynolds, is a Conrad Black-owned daily with a 300,000 strong circulation. Our story, after it was run almost word for word in the Citizen, attracted the attention of at least two other publications, including the Alberta Report.
Break out the champers!
Our story revealed how $5-million taxpayer's dollars are paying Morgentaler's rent.
We're happy to say that thanks to our own 80,000 circulation and the boost from the Citizen, a lot of people read about the $5-Million Man--including, by his own admission, the $5-Million Man himself.
"I was surprised to learn that a respectable newspaper like the Citizen would reprint an article from the reactionary, anti-choice Toronto Free Press, with the misleading headline "How you are paying Henry Morgentaler's rent"," Morgentaler wrote in a letter to Citizen editors.
Aside from his impressive left wing supporters, we are not sure how Morgentaler is qualified to condemn TFP as "reactionary".
Nonetheless, Morgentaler indicated in his letter to the Citizen, "I am gratified that your paper did not reproduce the innuendoes and gratuitous rumours that are part of that article. I felt it was beneath my dignity to respond to the Toronto Free Press, but I think your readers deserve to be given the facts."
The Toronto Free Press story with files from Frank Kennedy, Queen's Park correspondent for The Interim, revealed that "unsuspecting Ontario taxpayers have been forking out millions of dollars in rent for the operation of the Toronto-based abortion clinic of Dr. Henry Morgentaler, according to Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy documents obtained by TFP.
"Currently half way though a 10-year lease on Morgentaler's 727 Hillsdale Ave. E. abortion clinic, taxpayers have already paid $2,611,828. In specifics, Ontario taxpayers paid a total of $567,325 rent for 1997-98. At the end of the lease, paying Morgentaler's rent will exceed $5,000,000. This amount is over and above the $450,000 that Morgentaler received from the public purse for security purposes. As far as is known, no other abortion clinic in Canada receives free rent and none for a projected period of 10 years."
According to Morgentaler in his letter to the Citizen: "The impression given by the article is that the Ontario government is giving me preference by paying enormous rent for my clinic. My clinic is the largest of four approved by the government and does more abortions than all the other four combined. (Notice how Morgentaler does not deny that Ontario taxpayers are forking out $5-million for his rent).
"It was the Liberal government of Ontario that put through the Independent Health Facilities Act, under which the four clinics were approved. Their budgets were covered by the province so that women would not have to pay for abortion services.
"This policy was continued by the New Democratic and Harris governments. The NDP also approved a free-standing clinic in Ottawa.
"The clinics are providing an important medical service under medicare. This is contrary to some provinces with reactionary provincial governments where women have to pay for this service out of their own pockets."
Morgentaler argues that "the safety records of the free-standing clinics are much superior to any hospital in Ontario, according to a confidential study recently conducted by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario."
Canada's bill for 100,000 abortions in the fiscal year 1992-93 came to a whopping $55,964,593. The number of abortions in Canada has grown steadily since then and the total costs have increased dramatically. Getting information on the abortion industry has been made much more difficult over the years.
Most people believe that the Morgentaler clinic is a private one and certainly not a charity.
Toronto Free Press stands behind its original question: "Why must Ontario taxpayers pay $5-million in rent for Henry Morgentaler's abortion clinic?" and behind its original front page subheading: "Oh, Henry!"
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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