c9 | Electing to be Concerned. (Reply)

The other night on the phone, I happened to mention something about the election getting interesting. My dad, who in the past has voted Reform and Canadian Alliance, and is pretty much guaranteed to vote Conservative this time around (all this despite my being out to him and him being ok with it, he's just more economically focused than my rights focused, not trying to sound bitter cause I'm not), took the opportunity to ask me if I was scared of Stephen Harper or the Conservatives, or if my friends were.

I told him yes, sometimes. I sorta stumbled over my reasons, my dad has always made me nervous -- he was the typical domineering 50's style dad, who won arguments by being bigger and louder. I thought I'd post about it though to get my thoughts in order.

What is there to be worried about? Well, beyond the *fact* that Harper would have sent troops to Iraq in a front-line role, many in his party have very regressive social agendas around abortion, bilingualism, equal rights for minorities, immigration, and social programs.

But my Dad was asking about gay rights specifically. I'm legally married, and I know that taking my marriage away is not something that Harper would attempt -- he's too smart to go down that road. There's some question as to whether it's even possible, so we'll set that aside. But currently, only three provinces allow legal same-sex marriage, and all because of court cases: the federal law has not yet been changed, and it must be before all provinces and territories will be equal in their treatment of same-sex couples.

The federal government has submitted a reference to the Supreme Court to confirm what they already officially believe, that equal marriage is the only constitutionally valid option. It's sort of a pre-emptive strike against those who (a) might say "we didn't actually have to go all the way, and (b) might appeal court cases all the way to the Supreme Court (Egale Canada, Alberta government, etc) to accomplish their goals. Strategically, it makes sense, although it's frustrating that over 25% of Canadians do not have legal equal marriage available in their hom province or territory.

Who controls the reference? The Prime Minister's Office. Not the House of Commons, and not even the Supreme Court. So if the man in the PMO changes, the reference could be pulled.

Possible outcomes of election: Liberal Majority, Liberal Minority, Conservative Minority, Conservative Majority.

Plausible outcomes of election: Liberal Minority, Conservative Minority, Conservative Majority.

If Martin gets back in, the reference will stay, and the SCC will say that equal marriage is the only option. The bill will eventually show up, but sadly will take a while to get through the House. Luckily the Bloc and NDP are strongly on-side on this issue.

If Harper gets into the PMO, the reference will be pulled (he has stated this), and a bill will be introduced to make marriage legally opposite-sex nationwide. Not only divisive, anti-equality, counter to the constitution, and evil, but this is actually a stupid quagmire that would cause conflicts in judge-interpreted and House-legislated law. Ugly, to say the least.

Additionally, this bill would likely get a free vote, which would mean it would only get full support from the NDP (who think human rights aren't optional, funny that). The Liberals would vote around one-third against equality, and the Bloc better than that. But it would be close, and might even pass.

Then we'd face another 3-5 years of court cases for the Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional, and another several years until we had a moderate government willing to actually pass a law for equal marriage.

My marriage is not at stake. But my friends' plans are. Stephen Harper, and many of his colleagues, really don't consider me to be worth as much as they are. They consider me a second-class citizen deserving of unequal treatment under the law.

His economics are not my style, but they don't personally threaten me. His social policies are destructive in my view, but again, they don't personally threaten me. But his plans to legislate discrimination and use my relationship as a weapon in the election does, personally, threaten me. And if I'm not good enough to get married in Stephen Harper's Canada, what else am I not good enough for?