[RACooper]

Bitter attacks open debate on same-sex
By BRIAN LAGHI
Thursday, February 17, 2005 Updated at 8:09 AM EST
From Thursday's Globe and Mail
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...tory/National/

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper tried to paint Paul Martin's party with a legacy of intolerance as the same-sex-marriage debate began in Parliament, saying a Liberal government interned Japanese Canadians and closed the borders to Jews fleeing Nazi Germany.

"Let us not forget, it is the Liberal Party that said 'none is too many,' when it came to Jews fleeing from Hitler," Mr. Harper said yesterday.

"It is the Liberal Party that interned Japanese Canadians in camps on Canada's West Coast, an act which [former prime minister] Pierre Trudeau refused to apologize or make restitution for."

Mr. Harper dredged up the 60-year-old events just after the Prime Minister questioned the sincerity of those who would ban gay marriage, saying opponents refuse to admit that it would take the invocation of the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to do it.

"They have eschewed the honest approach in favour of the political approach," Mr. Martin told the Commons. "They have attempted to cajole the public into believing that we can return to the past with a simple snap of the fingers, that we can revert to the traditional definition of marriage without consequence and without overriding the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms]."

The speeches were the first blasts in a battle that promises to be long and hot, as Mr. Harper marshals his forces to fight the Liberal legislation. Most Conservative MPs oppose the bill, and up to 90 are expected to speak on it. Although most observers believe the bill will pass, some Liberal MPs are opposed to it, and Mr. Martin's decision yesterday to speak first on the matter demonstrated the importance Liberals place on the bill. Same-sex marriage is legal in seven provinces and one territory, and the bill would extend that across the country.

While the leaders brought little new to their parties' positions on the bill, the level of rhetoric grew when Mr. Harper said the Liberals should not try to characterize themselves as shining examples of defenders of human rights.

"The Liberal Party of Canada is simply in no position -- either past or present -- to lecture anyone about Charter rights or human rights," Mr. Harper said. He referred to Mr. Trudeau's decision to invoke the War Measures Act during the FLQ crisis.

The phrase "none is too many" was the response a Canadian government official gave while commenting on how many Jews should be accepted into Canada at the time of the Holocaust.

Mr. Martin focused less on the importance of marriage to gays than on the Charter and its protection of minorities. He warned that a government that would take away the right of gays to marry might take away other rights, as well.

"I ask you: If a prime minister and a national government are willing to take away the rights of one group, what is to say they will stop at that? If the Charter is not there today to protect the rights of one minority, then how can we, as a nation of minorities, ever hope, ever believe, ever trust that it will be there to protect us tomorrow?"

Mr. Harper argued that the bill does not protect religious minorities. Although it says religious groups would not be compelled to perform same-sex marriages, he said it does not shield a religious group that might wish, for example, to ban a gay couple from holding their wedding reception in its church hall.

He resurrected his view that the bill attacks the cultural values of ethnic minorities.

"New Canadians know that their cultural values are likely to come under attack if this law is passed."

Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe argued that gay marriage is a matter of human rights, and pointed out that homosexual men and women face discrimination that can lead to suicide.

"One thing is clear. As long as love between same-sex couples is not accepted as something completely normal and acceptable in our societies, this suffering will continue. We parliamentarians cannot end this suffering on our own, but we can send a very strong signal here in Canada and around the world by adopting this law."

New Democratic Party MP Bill Siksay said the bill goes out of its way to protect religious groups. Mr. Siksay, who is gay, said the values expressed in gay relationships are no different than the values expressed in the relationships of heterosexual couples.