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Jean Chrétien suggests Stephen Harper may ban abortion, gay marriage

'If you can't beat them, scare them' seems to be the latest Liberal Party campaign strategy.

In a hard-hitting fundraising letter to the party faithful, former Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien lambasted the Harper government for their recent flurry of legislation and warned that bills banning abortion and gay marriages could be in the offing. He even suggested the death penalty may make a comeback.

"Unless we are bold. Unless we seize the moment. Everything we built will start being chipped away," the former prime minister wrote according to the Globe and Mail.

"The Conservatives have already ended gun control and Kyoto. Next may be a woman's right to choose, or gay marriage. Then might come capital punishment. And one by one, the values we cherish as Canadians will be gone."

Chrétien also reminded party members that it was the Liberals that brought-in medicare, the Canada pension plan, the Canadian flag, and the Clarity Act.

And never afraid to 'toot' his own horn, Chrétien noted it was his government that eliminated the deficit in the 1990s, and kept Canada out of the war in Iraq.

The letter was part of a Liberal party fundraising effort to raise $1 million over a 12 day period which began December 1.

A YouTube video explaining the so-called Million Conversations Campaign states the 2015 election campaign begins now.

"One of the big lessons we learned (on) May 2 is that we need to start reaching out today to the Canadians that will support us in 2015," announces the voice on the video.

"Neighbour to neighbour conversations, community events, national days of actions to hit doorsteps, townhalls online and over the phone, and ongoing telephone outreach. This is how modern campaigns are won years before a ballot is even cast."