Canadian Opposition Leader Trying To Keep Lid On Party Extremists

by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: February 14, 2005 9:02 pm. ET

(Ottawa) Debate on legislation to legalize same-sex marriage across Canada will begin Wednesday in the House of Commons and Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper is working overtime trying to prevent his members from appearing like red neck bigots as they oppose the bill.

Harper has issued orders to his Members of Parliament that they must submit their remarks to him before speaking in the House. The party, a merger of the old extreme rightwing Canadian Alliance and the more moderate Progressive Conservatives are eyeing the next election and Harper is frantically trying to shed the image of intolerance that cost them the last election.
But, signs of the old Alliance surfaced Monday in the form of an audio tape of one member on a homophobic rant to the media.

On the tape Conservative MP Jason Kenney says gays have every right to marry whoever they want - as long as it isn't someone of the same sex.

The Calgary MP made the remarks during a sometimes heated 40-minute discussion with members of the Toronto-area Punjabi language media. A copy of the tape was made available to The Canadian Press.
``The fact is that homosexuals aren't barred from marrying under Canadian law,'' Kenney said at the meeting of the Punjabi Press Club last month in Brampton, Ontario. The group represents more than a dozen Punjabi-language newspapers.

Former New Democratic Party MP Svend Robinson - an outspoken gay rights advocate and Canada's first publicly declared gay MP - was once married to a woman, noted Kenney. He also said that NDP MP Libby Davies was once married to a man.

``Marriage is open to everybody, as long as they're a man and a woman,'' said Kenney.

``It doesn't say you can't marry if you're a homosexual. The fact is that homosexuals have been married and do marry.''

Davies, the Vancouver MP who is openly lesbian, corrected the record to say she's never been married, but did live with her male partner for 24 years until he died of cancer in 1997.

``I thought I'd heard it all,'' said Davies. ``I wouldn't expect too much out of Jason Kenney on this (subject), but this is absolutely absurd.

``If there was an award for making an idiotic statement, this guy would get it.''
She said his comments trivialize the debate over same-sex marriage legislation currently before the House of Commons.

``It's very patronizing,'' Davies said.

But Kenney said Sunday his remarks were intended to illustrate a point made in numerous same-sex court cases. People aren't excluded from marrying because they are gay. They're excluded because marriage itself requires a man and a woman.

``Marriage - in the eyes of those of us who support traditional marriage - is, by its nature, a heterosexual institution that requires the complementarity of the sexes,'' Kenney said in an interview with the CP from his home in Calgary.

Kenney told the Punjabi Press Club, ``there's not a single human rights document in the world that enumerates a specific right to same-sex marriage,'' including those of the United Nations, European Union and Organization of American States.

Same-sex marriage is already legal in 7 of Canada's 10 provinces and one of the three territories. The legalization before Parliament would extend that to the rest of Canada.
A poll released on the weekend shows that 59 percent of Canadians are comfortable with same-sex marriage. (story)

The survey, conducted by EKOS Research Associates, shows that when asked if they support legislation now before Parliament to extend same-sex marriage across the country, 42 percent of Canadians said they do. 40 percent say they oppose gay marriage. However, another 17 percent said they don't care one way or the other.

A second survey also indicates that same-sex marriage has not hurt the governing Liberals. The party now leads with a minority government, but the latest poll shows that if an election were held today the Liberals would be returned with a majority.

©365Gay.com 2005