gay marriage

Joho on Gay Marriage

February 17, 2004

Joho published a piece on gay marriage this morning.  I’ve cut the beginning out and reproduced it here.  I also recommend reading the Bob Herbert piece that he references. Are we Sodom?. Bob Herbert’s column today in the NY Times "Bliss and Bigotry" made me cry. It’s a good column, but it did not provoke [...]

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Cosh on Spencer

November 29, 2003

A few more links on the Larry Spencer affair, mostly responding to Colby Cosh’s Friday post.  Casting the first stone? points out that Spencer is a member of parliament, not some old guy holding court at the barber shop.  In this case, the barber’s chair happened to be attached to a microphone.  That’s the upside of [...]

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Svend Robinson: “How many other Larry Spencers are there in the Canadian Alliance caucus that just haven’t given interviews?”

November 28, 2003

The fallout continues this morning on Larry Spencer’s remarks. The Globe’s Alliance-Tory merger hits roadblock on gays gives a good round-up of what’s going on, and at the end of the article suggests that Stephen Harper may take a harder line with Larry Spencer than he did yesterday. The Globe also published a Compendium of Alliance Gaffes, [...]

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The new underground railroad?

November 24, 2003

NY Times: Gay Couples Follow a Trail North Blazed by Slaves and War Resisters.  I’m not sure I’m that keen on Canada being the place where the US marijuana refugees are heading, but the notion that we’re a haven for oppressed minorities fits well. The NY Times article’s attempt to link the underground railroad with American gay couples [...]

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David Warren gone bonkers

September 22, 2003

In Judas Rising David Warren has gone off the deep end.  He attempts to link the "Fate" of Canada with the internal struggles of the Catholic Church in Quebec, moralizing the whole way.  He refers to Pierre Trudeau as the "arch-apostate Catholic", and the current situation as Trudeaus "satanic legacy".  The same-sex marriage debate has [...]

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Charter rights: fundamental or just important

September 22, 2003

The weekend Citizen carried Nigel Hannaford’s piece The gay marriage vote: a pox on gutless turncoats, which was published last week in the Calgary Herald.  Hannaford makes the statement that some beliefs are foundational while others are merely important. He concludes, near the end, that: The charter has been around for 21 years in a country [...]

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Whither the Conservative agenda?

September 12, 2003

We’re in the midst of an election campaign in Ontario.  Incumbent premier Ernie Eves is stumbling badly.  The PC party has chosen to try to portray their opponent’s leader, Dalton McGuinty, as not fit for office.  The strategy worked the last time, but it appears to be backfiring.  The PCs are throwing mud like mad, [...]

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Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

September 12, 2003

In Oh Canada: A divided approach to marriage, John Ibbitson has pretty neatly outlined the government’s strategy on the gay marriage issue, and the shenanigans opposition parties are contemplating in order to score points.  Chretien’s strategy was obvious the day Martin Cauchon announced the new marriage laws, but this article tidily encapsulates the whole thing.    

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A tie vote

September 7, 2003

Most disheartening of all about last nights’ vote was that the first time round it was a tie vote – 134 to 134.  It was not until the speaker of the house ruled that the original Alliance motion had to stand, which called on Parliament to take "all necessary steps" to preserve marriage as an [...]

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Notwithstanding minority rights

September 6, 2003

Tonight’s vote in the Commons on the definition of marriage was a sad sad affair.  Sad that so many Canadians feel it necessary to vote on such a basic issue of human dignity and kindness.  Sad that it was so narrowly won.  Sad because some of those who would lead our country (Peter Mackay, Steven Harper) [...]

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