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"There
was badgering of the witness, not letting people finish their sentences."
"The atmosphere there [Queabec] was very different," Pinkstone told Southam News. "In fact, I came back inspired by Canadian democracy in that case. They came and said hello. They made a particular effort to relax people so that they would feel comfortable to speak, they were open, they didn't ask questions and then say you haven't answered."
“I
submit that these are not equal relationships and should not be regarded as same
for the purposes of public policy. To add common law homosexual relationships
to common law heterosexual relationships and say that they are the same thing
in my view is a fallacy.”
You can write directly to your Member of Parliament or Senator, or send your views to the Minister of Justice at Room 100, 284 Wellington Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H8, or by e-mail at marriage@justice.gc.ca.
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Equal Marriage and the Law in Canada
Committee
Badgers Witnesses "I feel
that there were people who had already made up their minds and they're just here
to prove their point. Their questions are not actual questions.... Their questions
are ways of stating their already decided opinions. There was a badgering of the
witness, not letting people finish their sentences, etc." The so-called "justice committee" formed by the Liberal party again disgraced itself yesterday when some of the bigots on the panel displayed their prejudice and mean-spirited ignorance for the rest of the country to see. Southam News reported that the committee asked two women from the Lesbian Mothers Association of Quebec questions and then "accused them of taking too much time to answer and even looked the other way during some responses to their questions." "There was badgering of the witness, not letting people finish their sentences,"" said witness Gabriel Pinkstone. According to Southam News, Derek Lee (Liberal party) absurdly told a lesbian, "you are using up my time" when she tried to answer his question. Mr. Lee later obtained a retraction from the Ottawa Citizen with an explanation that the remark was actually made by another member of the committee. John McKay, another Liberal who is promoting bigotry, warned one witness "you will destroy the symbolism that you crave" by entering the institute of marriage. Likewise Pat O'Brien (Liberal) declared he was "absolutely, overwhelmingly opposed" to equality in marriage. A witness reported that Richard Hudon, of the Association of Christian Families (and webmaster for the extremist Alliance Party), called same-sex unions an "aberration", denounced common law relationships as "corrupting marriage", "defacing it", "making a mockery of the family" and leading to the "disintegration of the social order". Same-sex relationships, according to M. Hudon "perpetuate fornication" and will cause the "destruction of our civilization" since "two men buggering and fellating each other cannot beget a family." M. Marceau, Bloc Québécois MP, asked why, if perpetuating the species is the purpose of marriage, do we allow infertile women to marry? M. Hudon replied that that is an "idiotic" question and refused to answer. Gay MP Svend Robinson got similar treatment. When he asked whether heterosexuals would stop having children if same-sex couples could marry, M. Hudon replied: "You are lacking in Christian charity, by dragging me into your circle of homosexuality, which I abhor." Pinkstone has talked to another committee like this before, in Quebec when that province was exploring the issue of marriage. "The atmosphere there [Queabec] was very different," Pinkstone told Southam News. "In fact, I came back inspired by Canadian democracy in that case. They came and said hello. They made a particular effort to relax people so that they would feel comfortable to speak, they were open, they didn't ask questions and then say you haven't answered." Justice
Committee Is Discredited The Canadian Liberal government continues to attract criticism for its failure to honour charter rights for its gay and lesbian citizens, despite repeated court orders to do so and wide-spread support for equal marriage from leading opinion makers from across the country (you can find many examples on this web site). This week, Parliament's Committee on Justice and Human Rights was described as a "deck stacked against gay marriage" in a January 21 Times Colonist (Victoria, British Columbia) headline. Chairman Andy Scott and vice-chairman John McKay, both from the Liberal party, have tag-teamed with the infamously homophobic Alliance Party (Chuck Cadman) to form, what Scott has called in the past, a "firewall" around marriage [365gay.com, Jan. 22, 2003]. The purpose of the committee is highly suspect and dubious to begin with. Clear Choice The government has a clear choice: comply with the Charter, as ordered by courts, or not. Either all of Canada's citizens are equal or this government will further disgrace itself and our country by invoking the notwithstanding clause of our constitution and in effect, declare that gays and lesbians are not persons under the Canadian Charter. A hunt for compliant co-conspirators The contempt of the committee executive is not only reserved for gays and lesbians. These politicians also have a cynical view of rural Canadians. It was reported that the committee is lobbying the Commons for funding to travel the country in order to hold public hearings (yes, the Liberal party hopes to make compliance with human rights a matter decided by the tyranny of the majority). Apparently vice-chairman McKay wants to bring a roadshow to the rural areas of the country where McKay hopes to find more opposition to gay marriage, away from the urban "chattering classes". Will he be bringing white sheets? The kind of people McKay is in search of preferred devil masks when they protested at our marriage ceremony. No matter, if McKay finds himself with extra sheets, his dowry for discrimination can be turned into excellent gifts for rural Canadian gays and lesbians who also hope to marry.
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