Will or won’t he?
The countdown is on for Harper’s same-sex marriage vote promise
Gilles Marchildon

It would be understandable if Prime Minister Stephen Harper had lost his nerve.

After all, the world is coming around to equal marriage for same-sex couples, as evidenced by recent developments in South Africa and Israel. If two more leading countries such as these can recognize equality, why would Canada go against the trend it helped start?

Harper is stuck with his commitment, recently re-confirmed by Justice Minister Vic Toews, that a motion will be put forward in Parliament this fall, asking members whether or not they want to reopen the issue of marriage.

But as John Ibbitsen pointed out in a recent Globe and Mail column, “Mr. Harper is running out of time.”

In fact, according to the parliamentary calendar, he has about as many days left to introduce a motion as there a fingers on a hand. Procedures, opposition days and Harper’s international travels gobble up much of the available time between now and Dec. 15, when the House of Commons rises for the holidays.

If Harper loses his nerve, though, it means breaking a promise. Granted, it’s not unheard of for politicians to do just that, even Harper and the Conservatives. The ‘income trusts’ promise is a recent example.

Still, reversing himself on this very public commitment will further erode public confidence in the prime minister.

Sure, everyone knows his motion will lose but a promise is a promise… unless Harper announces he’s seen the writing on the wall, and his misguided, backward initiative is off the agenda. That would infuriate his religious, right supporters and we know what happens when they get pissed off. Just ask lame-duck President George W. Bush.

South Africa’s parliament, by an overwhelming majority of 230-41, recently approved legislation recognizing marriages of same-sex couples. This was in response to the country’s high court decision a year ago. The court said it was counter to South Africa’s constitution to deny same-sex couples the right to equal marriage. It gave parliament one year to amend the law, otherwise the court would deem the law to have been changed automatically.

In a recent editorial, the Globe and Mail suggested South Africa’s vote is a message to Canada’s Conservative government. “It is time to let the issue go,” adding: “The logic behind gay marriage is unassailable.”

As if that isn’t enough to convince Mr. Harper, Israel’s High Court of Justice, in a 6-1 majority, ruled that same-sex marriages performed abroad must be recognized and the couples duly registered as married in Israel’s population registry. The Nov. 21 decision was the result of a legal challenge by five gay couples married in Canada.

So Harper will have to decide — very shortly — whether or not to break a promise or to proceed with a motion he knows is doomed. Neither option is appealing.

Though it’s hard to imagine any other options, especially since he denied plans for a Defense of Religions Act, Harper is a wily tactician and he might have another card up his sleeve.

Gilles Marchildon is the former executive director of Egale Canada, a national advocacy group for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans community. He is also the founding director of the Reel Pride festival in Winnipeg and past editor of Swerve.