Posted on 07/18/2005 8:27:46 AM PDT by Heartofsong83
Same-sex marriage bill must stand, majority say
In wake of Tory vow to repeal legislation, poll suggests 55 per cent want it untouched
By BRIAN LAGHI
Monday, July 18, 2005 Updated at 5:43 AM EDT
From Monday's Globe and Mail
Ottawa — Canadians do not want their political leaders to undo historic legislation allowing gays to legally marry in the wake of a pledge from the Conservatives that they would do just that if elected.
In a new poll conducted for The Globe and Mail/CTV, 55 per cent of Canadians surveyed say the next government should let same-sex legislation stand, while 39 per cent would like to see an attempt made to repeal it. A further 6 per cent said they did not know.
The results appear to bolster Prime Minister Paul Martin's remarks two weeks ago that Canadians do not want to revisit the issue, despite a promise by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper that he would rescind the law if he becomes prime minister in an election expected next winter.
"The Liberals have been successful in defining same-sex as an issue of rights, not as a moral issue" said Tim Woolstencroft, managing partner of polling firm the Strategic Counsel.
"And that prevails. Rights will also win over other issues."
The matter continues to be controversial as it winds its way through the Senate.
Pollsters said Mr. Harper's promise to repeal the legislation may be helping to consolidate Liberal support. For example, Canadians who are undecided on whether to support the Liberals or the NDP may find themselves opting for the Liberals if they fear Mr. Harper would follow through. Pollsters said they also found that while Conservative supporters are the most likely to favour an attempt to repeal the legislation, "potential" Conservative voters are more likely to prefer that the current legislation stand.
Mr. Harper's position may only consolidate his Conservative base, they said, and not expand his support to other groups.
Mr. Woolstencroft said Canadians' opinion on gay marriage probably moved toward the favourable column over lengthy debate.
"If it's a rights issue, Canadians don't want to go back," he said. "It's a done deal now."
He also said the issue has found surprising resonance with Canadians, who mentioned it as the second-most notable achievement of Mr. Martin's minority government since it took office in June of 2004. The health-care accord that promises billions of dollars in new cash to the provinces was first.
When offered a list of options, 19 per cent chose same-sex marriage as the most notable achievement; 28 per cent picked the health-care accord. The tsunami relief effort was next at 14 per cent, while a series of preliminary daycare deals was chosen by 10 per cent of respondents.
However, when asked to think of an achievement without the prompting of a list, 60 per cent could not come up with one.
In a related question, 51 per cent of those surveyed said they do not support the idea of allowing gay couples to legally adopt, while 46 per cent said they do
Mr. Woolstencroft said he was surprised by the high level of support for the idea. Adoption falls under provincial jurisdiction and laws dealing with gay adoption are a patchwork across the country.
The results, which are accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 95 per cent of the time, come from a survey of 1,000 Canadians conducted between July 5 and July 10.
The same-sex marriage legislation has been one of the most divisive issues ever put before the Canadian Parliament. When the House of Commons passed the bill late last month to redefine civil marriage to include gay and lesbian couples, opponents vowed that the fight was far from over.
Many of them have turned their efforts to the long-term goal of having marriage enshrined in the Constitution as the union of one man and one woman. But in the interim, they intend to prevent the issue from falling off the political agenda.
Phil Hogan, the president of the Catholic Civil Rights League, a lay organization formed to protect and promote Catholic issues, said recently that the majority of Canadians understand marriage to be the joining of the sexes for the purpose of having and raising children.
His group and others plan to make same-sex marriage an election issue.
"We have indicated throughout this debate that MPs who support this change will be exposed to publicity of that support and they will be held accountable," Mr. Hogan said.
"It seems to us that, for a great number of Canadians, this is of primary importance."
This defies all other polls I have seen. All I can say is that the pollster manipulated the numbers by doing all the polling in Quebec and downtown Toronto, where support for gay marriage is concentrated. There are no regional numbers.
Typical nonsense from the Gay and Wail.
If I were gay, and wanted to be married to my male partner, I'd move to Canada.
We need a new "move to Canada" TV ad making that point.
Why not just try to purge Quebec from Confederation and let them have all the gay activists, since that is the only region that supports gay marriage?
While you're at it include the flaming liberals and in return accept to the US conservaive minded Canadians who support the US and strong conservative ideals. Where do I sign up?
That's a majority in English Canada...
Exactly. If this was an Ipsos-Reid poll, I'd have a lot more faith in them. However, the Gay and Wail strategically avoided them to manipulate the result.
Good luck trying to convince the wussies in Ontario.
My personal opinion, I as an American would welcome Alberta as the 51st star on the flag.
This is like asking, what is the most egregious abuse of power by the Bush Administration, and providing a list of choices.
Quebec, not Ontario, is the problem here...if you took out the Quebec MP's, Bill C-38 would have been defeated by quite a healthy margin
The breakdown by province:
.....Yeas..Nays..Abs...Paired
BC...14....20....2.....0
AB...2.....25....1.....0
SK...1.....13....0.....0
MB...4.....9.....1.....0
ON...57....46....1.....1
QC...60....7.....5.....3
NB...5.....5.....0.....0
NS...8.....3.....0.....0
PE...3.....1.....0.....0
NL...1.....4.....2.....0
TER..3.....0.....0.....0
CAN..158...133...12....4
Without Quebec, the result would be 126-98 AGAINST gay marriage...and it would have been defeated on 2nd reading.
Without the Bloc Quebecois (Quebec separatists), the result would be 128-115, still a defeat for the bill.
It's NOT legitimate legislation since the only reason it is passing is because of separatists!!! Let Quebec have gay marriage as a sovereign country!
23 of the 32 Liberals that voted against the bill are from Ontario.
But if it weren't for Ontario the libranos would have been removed from power. There should be no excuses created for Ontario.
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