Canada Election Issue - Gay Rights

maplesyrup · January 19, 2004

The Martin Liberals just announced appeal of same-sex ruling on CPP survivor benefits

'Ottawa to appeal same-sex ruling

Ontario court ordered extension of CPP survivor benefits'

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentSe...ol=968793972154

'The federal government will appeal a court ruling ordering it to pay retroactive pension benefits to gays and lesbians whose partners died after April 1985 when the Charter of Rights and Freedoms took effect.'

maplesyrup · January 20, 2004

Belinda Stronach supports same-sex marriage.

Michael Hardner · January 20, 2004

I wonder if she really does, or she's just playing politics.

Even Harper is going soft on homosexuality-related issues. He has read the polls and knows which way the wind is blowing...

Greg · January 20, 2004

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maplesyrup · January 20, 2004

Belinda Stronach has stated she is not opposed to same-sex marriage. I believe that this is a wise political position to take because Canadian society generally is becoming more accepting of the idea.

Similar to abortion rights for women, eventually same-sex marriage will not be a devisive issue in Canada for most Canadians.

It is important that any prospective leader, for the Conservative party, has policies that are in sinc with mainstream Canadian society.

We live in a changing world.

Hugo · January 20, 2004

Abortion rights are still hotly contested in Canada, despite the fact that we have been living with abortion for well over 30 years.

69% of Canadians favour informed consent legislation on abortion.
63% of Canadians favour legal protection of human life before birth.

68% said abortions should either be privately funded or only funded in medical emergencies, and

70% of Canadians either disagreed with using embryos for stem cell research or using sources of stem cells that do not destroy the embryos.

Read the full report

There's no reason to believe that either gay marriage or abortion will ever be accepted in the same way that, say, universal suffrage has been. I have read that the latest polls show that support for gay marriage is down since the Ontario court decision. In June it was around 54% in favour, but in December that had fallen to 32% (National Post).

Michael Hardner · January 20, 2004

That's an odd report. It claims that 22% of people said that their own lives began AFTER their birth.

:blink:

maplesyrup · January 20, 2004

Canadians believe, by a wide margin that it is more immoral to shoplift than to have an abortion.

This information is from the same polling company, although more recent polling, than the one mentioned above.

http://www.wcr.ab.ca/news/2002/0225/aborti...vey022502.shtml

'Leger Marketing president Jean-Marc Leger said that in the last 10 years, the morality meter seems to have shifted away from issues such as divorce and homosexuality, the Canadian Press reported.

"When we touch on dishonesty, such as tax evasion, working under the table, that's seen as being more immoral than abortion or homosexuality."'

Abortion is not the burning issue that it used to be.

And nor will the issue of same-sex be that controversial in the years to come.

It is interesting to note that during her first press conference, reporters didn't even bring up the issue of abortion rights for women with Belinda Stronach.

They did however question her on same-sex and gun registry topics.

As far as the same sex issue, Strronach stated she believes in equality, so supports same-sex rights.

Dishonesty, corruption, and tax-avoidance issues however, will continue to challenge us.

Hugo · January 21, 2004

A Leger Marketing survey for the Canadian Press, released Feb. 18, shows that... 41.8 per cent believe abortion to be immoral.

The Liberals won the last election with less of the vote than that - and you think that this proves that "Abortion is not the burning issue that it used to be"? I'm sorry, but the figures you are quoting do not fit the point you are arguing.

Abortion is very far from dead and shows no signs of dying even more than 30 years after the fact. I'd expect that after 30 years of gay marriage the debate will be raging just as strongly.