Harper vows free vote on gay marriage
OTTAWA (CP) - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper launched his election campaign Tuesday by steering it straight into the electoral turbulence of gay marriage.
With the starting gun kicking off the eight-week race still echoing in the air, Harper went out of his way to reopen a politically noxious debate, pledging to restore the traditional definition of marriage - provided Parliament supports the idea in a free vote.
"It will be a genuine free vote when I'm prime minister," Harper said.
"I will not whip our cabinet," he added, referring to the process by which Paul Martin's ministers were forced last summer to support a bill that legalized gay weddings.
Most legal experts agree same-sex marriage is a genie Harper will be hard-pressed to put back in the bottle. He would have to circumvent court judgments allowing gay weddings, as well as a reference opinion from the Supreme Court of Canada.
Harper conceded he would consider the matter closed if MPs don't support introducing new legislation to once again define marriage as the sole domain of one man and one woman.
Either way, he promised to preserve more than 3,000 gay marriages already performed across Canada, though he wouldn't say exactly how.
"That's the commitment we've made and it hasn't changed," Harper said in the lobby outside the House of Commons.
He made a point of raising the thorny issue even after his handlers had cut off questions from reporters, though he later said he was addressing an earlier question he felt obliged to answer.
He also dodged questions about constitutional scholars who say it would be impossible to restore the traditional definition of marriage, and about whether he would use the notwithstanding clause to do it.
Harper has said he believes same-sex couples should be recognized through civil unions that set out economic rights but don't infringe on traditional marriage.
In the 2004 election, the Tory stance against gay weddings cost the party crucial support in urban Ontario and among younger voters.
It also helped the Liberals portray Harper as a kind of far-right bogey man who would undercut the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They wasted no time Tuesday resurrecting that strategy.
"It's this kind of thing that led me to join the Liberal party, that drove me from the Conservative party," said MP Belinda Stronach. "I think it's just plain wrong."
Stronach's dramatic defection to the governing party in May helped the Liberals hold on to power.
"How can one class of citizen be more equal than another? Honestly, I think voters have moved past this issue. Parliament already dealt with that."
Gay activists were dismayed by Harper's remarks.
"What does that say about our confidence in the government, that when a law is passed we can rely on it?" said Gilles Marchildon, executive director of EGALE Canada.
"Instead of creating conditions that bring peace, order and good government, it's chaos, confusion and uncertainty."
Heather MacIvor, a political scientist at the University of Windsor, recently published the book Canadian Politics and Government in the Charter Era.
She leads a seminar class on the Supreme Court reference opinion that dealt with same-sex unions. The high court was clear that marriage, under the Constitution, now includes gay couples, she said.
"You can't use the notwithstanding clause to override the division of powers in the 1867 Constitution," MacIvor said.
Later in the day, Harper returned to themes he outlined after toppling the government Monday. He described the Liberals as friends of "powerful, privileged insiders" and the architects of a "culture of entitlement" a Conservative government would eliminate.
"When our national government is weak and under a cloud, it hurts our country," Harper told cheering supporters during a visit to the campaign headquarters of former Ontario cabinet minister John Baird.
"When they stole your money, they not only broke your trust, they also failed to deliver on your priorities."
A Conservative government would cut taxes, clean up government corruption and give parents and patients alike "choice" in both child care and health care, he added.
In tackling same-sex marriage head-on, Harper has raised an issue that isn't settled for everyone.
Former Liberal MP Pat O'Brien has teamed with ex-Tory MP Grant Hill to form a group called Defend Marriage Canada. They plan to raise money, publish letters and lobby voters during the campaign to elect candidates who oppose gay marriage.
O'Brien quit the Liberals over the issue to sit as an independent MP and is not running for re-election.
He says same-sex weddings are not accepted in the minds of "millions of Canadians."
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OTTAWA (CP) - Conservative Leader Stephen Harper launched his election campaign Tuesday by steering it straight into the electoral turbulence of gay marriage.
With the starting gun kicking off the eight-week race still echoing in the air, Harper went out of his way to reopen a politically noxious debate, pledging to restore the traditional definition of marriage - provided Parliament supports the idea in a free vote.
"It will be a genuine free vote when I'm prime minister," Harper said.
"I will not whip our cabinet," he added, referring to the process by which Paul Martin's ministers were forced last summer to support a bill that legalized gay weddings.
Most legal experts agree same-sex marriage is a genie Harper will be hard-pressed to put back in the bottle. He would have to circumvent court judgments allowing gay weddings, as well as a reference opinion from the Supreme Court of Canada.
Harper conceded he would consider the matter closed if MPs don't support introducing new legislation to once again define marriage as the sole domain of one man and one woman.
Either way, he promised to preserve more than 3,000 gay marriages already performed across Canada, though he wouldn't say exactly how.
"That's the commitment we've made and it hasn't changed," Harper said in the lobby outside the House of Commons.
He made a point of raising the thorny issue even after his handlers had cut off questions from reporters, though he later said he was addressing an earlier question he felt obliged to answer.
He also dodged questions about constitutional scholars who say it would be impossible to restore the traditional definition of marriage, and about whether he would use the notwithstanding clause to do it.
Harper has said he believes same-sex couples should be recognized through civil unions that set out economic rights but don't infringe on traditional marriage.
In the 2004 election, the Tory stance against gay weddings cost the party crucial support in urban Ontario and among younger voters.
It also helped the Liberals portray Harper as a kind of far-right bogey man who would undercut the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They wasted no time Tuesday resurrecting that strategy.
"It's this kind of thing that led me to join the Liberal party, that drove me from the Conservative party," said MP Belinda Stronach. "I think it's just plain wrong."
Stronach's dramatic defection to the governing party in May helped the Liberals hold on to power.
"How can one class of citizen be more equal than another? Honestly, I think voters have moved past this issue. Parliament already dealt with that."
Gay activists were dismayed by Harper's remarks.
"What does that say about our confidence in the government, that when a law is passed we can rely on it?" said Gilles Marchildon, executive director of EGALE Canada.
"Instead of creating conditions that bring peace, order and good government, it's chaos, confusion and uncertainty."
Heather MacIvor, a political scientist at the University of Windsor, recently published the book Canadian Politics and Government in the Charter Era.
She leads a seminar class on the Supreme Court reference opinion that dealt with same-sex unions. The high court was clear that marriage, under the Constitution, now includes gay couples, she said.
"You can't use the notwithstanding clause to override the division of powers in the 1867 Constitution," MacIvor said.
Later in the day, Harper returned to themes he outlined after toppling the government Monday. He described the Liberals as friends of "powerful, privileged insiders" and the architects of a "culture of entitlement" a Conservative government would eliminate.
"When our national government is weak and under a cloud, it hurts our country," Harper told cheering supporters during a visit to the campaign headquarters of former Ontario cabinet minister John Baird.
"When they stole your money, they not only broke your trust, they also failed to deliver on your priorities."
A Conservative government would cut taxes, clean up government corruption and give parents and patients alike "choice" in both child care and health care, he added.
In tackling same-sex marriage head-on, Harper has raised an issue that isn't settled for everyone.
Former Liberal MP Pat O'Brien has teamed with ex-Tory MP Grant Hill to form a group called Defend Marriage Canada. They plan to raise money, publish letters and lobby voters during the campaign to elect candidates who oppose gay marriage.
O'Brien quit the Liberals over the issue to sit as an independent MP and is not running for re-election.
He says same-sex weddings are not accepted in the minds of "millions of Canadians."
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