by alec on September 8, 2003
It’s been an interesting week, hasn’t it? Hopefully the irony of the Alliance motion, followed by bill C-250 hasn’t been lost on anyone. On the one hand, a group of "Reformers" in Parliament has pushed hard for a motion to not reform the marriage laws in Canada. The motion was narrowly defeated. The next day — the very next day — those same parliamentarians passed a law making extending the definition of the hate crime laws to include gay and lesbian people, curtailing what some see as their right to free speech, and extending the laws unnecessarily in the opinion of others. Colby Cosh has a great time with these apparent contradictions in his piece titled Jail ‘em all, let Svend sort ‘em out.
So, what’s in a hate crime? This handy reference from the University of Ottawa (directed at high schoolers) explains all. In other words, it’s now against the law to promote genocide against gay people, to promote violence against gay people, and to encourage others to hate gay people.
And what about free speech? It hasn’t been curtailed in a meaningful way here. The Supreme Court has already held that the criminal code sections pertaining to the promotion of hatred are not unconstitutional (side note: read section 1 of the Charter, which basically states that Charter Rights are not inviolable — there’s a lot of latitude there). The definitional extension that Svend Robinson has championed makes gay bashing a crime.
by alec on September 8, 2003
My smug friend posted a link yesterday to this site, responding to this. He wrote:
The Canadian Alliance has been bitching about parliamentary reform since their earliest days when they were called Reform. The message has been falling on uninterested Canadian ears ever since because it is such a difficult problem to solve. How do you explain to Canadians that our system of government has serious inherent problems that are increasingly exploited by the usual daisy chain of the CBC, Liberals, and bureaucrats? How you are going to sell a newspaper talking about such boring bullshit? It’s much easier to simply label the Reformists as Nazis, idiots, or fundamentalist – one slur fits all, and once you’ve flipped the bozo-bit on them you save yourself the trouble of ever needing to listen again.
Reformers are welcome. These ideas deserve debate, demand examination, and all Canadians will be served well if they see the light of day. When reformers behave differently, they deserve to be called on it, however.
In this particular instance, the parties championing reform have taken a right turn off the road of reform onto something else. What has happened here is not that the media has chosen to make same-sex marriage an issue. Opponents of same-sex marriage have chosen to make it an issue. A willing media has given them a voice. And so we have the medievel spectre of Catholic bishops warning politicians that their souls will burn in hell, and insane proposals, such as using the notwithstanding clause, in order to safeguard and protect the act and promise of marriage. The media laps it up, and a teapot tempest has now become a gale.
We need to boot the Liberals out. It is time for change. It’s time for new leadership, new blood, new ideas. But who can you vote for when a vote in favour of reform also means a vote to undermine the constitution? And would you willingly vote for a wedge-issue candidate versus a candidate with vision?
The opposition needs to get back on track. What is the oppositions "elevator speech"? In 45 seconds or less, what does the PC party option mean to Canadians? The answer is not to find wedge issues and divide Canadians. The answer is to find a simple, inclusive platform, that is a credible foil to the Liberal record.
