How should Canada approach polygamy?

[White_Unifier]

I could see that in certain situations, even if the polygomous relationship is illegal, it would be wrong not to recognize it. For example, a child that needs medical benefits, a wife that is attempting to claim insurance,etc.

I could see something like this:

1. Prohibit the contracting of a polygamous marriage in Canada. If I want to take a second wife, then I'd have to fly her and myself over to a jurisdiction abroad that would allow us to legally contract such a marriage.

2. Require marriage contracts in Canada must include a monogamy clause. Since it would be a contract, this would mean that even Muslim states might refuse to allow a person who's already under such a contract to then contract a marriage with a second person without any present wife agreeing to revise the original contract. This would mean that a man under such a contract might need to bring any present wife with him to have her agree to revise the original contract abroad so as to allow him to take a second wife. Consequently, he could not take a second wife without his first wife's consent. Even if he finds a jurisdiction that's willing to marry him, his first wife could then sue him back in Canada for having broken the contract.

3. Allow family-marriage contracts. This would mean that a woman who wants to make it more difficult for her husband to take a second wife later could have her husband-to-be sign a family-marriage contract whereby his and her living parents would sign to give their consent to a monogamous-marriage contract that could be revised even abroad only with the consent of both spouses and their living parents. This would mean that a man under such a contract would need to fly not only himself, his intended wife-to-be, and his first wife to a jurisdiction that allows the contracting of a polygamous marriage, but would have to fly all of his and her living parents there too so that they could revise the contract.

None of this would prevent a man from divorcing his first wife to marry a second, but it would make it far more difficult for him to take a second wife without his first wife's consent. And in the case of a family-marriage contract, it would even be difficult for him to coerce his wife into revising a monogamous marriage contract wince he'd need the signature of his and her living parents to revise it too.

 

[JLM]

If laws are to remain they should be enforced! If they are not going to be enforced (like polygamy) they should be removed from the books. People have to realistically expect laws will be enforced, otherwise it just sets up a situation where an accused can plead "well you never enforced law A so why in the Hell would you expect me to know you are going to enforce law B"?

 

[White_Unifier]

If laws are to remain they should be enforced! If they are not going to be enforced (like polygamy) they should be removed from the books. People have to realistically expect laws will be enforced, otherwise it just sets up a situation where an accused can plead "well you never enforced law A so why in the Hell would you expect me to know you are going to enforce law B"?

You have a point there.Modifying marriage-contract laws would then make polygamy a civil matter. To marry take a second wife, a man would need to get consent, and failing to do so would risk him facing a lawsuit.