PM threatens
election over same-sex marriage
CTV.ca
News Staff
Prime
Minister Paul Martin says the issue of same-sex marriage is so important
to him, he'd be willing to call an election -- if he has to.
Martin's
headline-making remarks came as he spoke in French with reporters in
Beijing covering his trade trip to China.
"It's
not my intention to go into an election. We want to govern," said
Martin who ended up with a minority in Parliament after last June's
federal election.
"Am
I ready to go into an election to uphold the charter of rights against
those who would attack it? The answer is certainly yes."
Martin
was responding to remarks from Conservative Leader Stephen Harper who said
the Liberal government's move to extend marriage to include gay and
lesbian couples could, one day, evolve into support for polygamy.
Harper
has said he fears it's a slippery slope.
"I
believe we have to recognize the traditional definition of marriage in
law, otherwise we will continue to be presented with demands that just get
more and more radical," he said.
"I
don't believe there's any support in the country for the recognition of
polygamy in law."
"I
just cannot conceive how anybody can say that and not understand just how
ridiculous that he must look," Martin told reporters in Beijing,
adding that the laws against polygamy will not change.
"As
far as I'm concerned it will always be against the law."
Martin
went on to say that, if elected, Harper's Conservatives "would strip
away the rights of individuals" and minorities.
Back
in Canada, Harper said all the tough talk is actually directed at Martin's
own MPs, threatening an election so they'll vote for the marriage bill.
But Harper said if Martin wants an election, he's ready.
"I
believe that we're on the right side of public opinion. If he has no
legislative agenda he wants to pursue and wants to have an election, so be
it," Harper told reporters Friday.
NDP
Leader Jack Layton says an election isn't any way to resolve the issue.
"We
already had an election, and the vast majority of Canadians voted for
parties that said they were for human rights," said Layton.
PM
'riled'
Globe
and Mail reporter Brian Laghi, who
is in Beijing covering Martin's trade trip, said the PM's comments caught
many people off guard.
"It
was quite remarkable, actually," Laghi told CTV Newsnet, adding that
Martin seemed "riled" by Harper's stand.
Laghi
speculated that the PM's pointed remarks are part of a calculated plan for
political positioning -- now and down the road.
"This
effort is probably going to continue over a significant period of time,
probably until we do get to an election."
Martin
and the Liberals have had to respond several times in the last few days to
pointed questions and criticism about their pending same-sex bill.
The
legislation is expected to become law by summer.
Earlier
this week Justice Minister Irwin Cotler dismissed the Catholic Church's
call for a delay of legislation on same-sex marriages, saying it would
violate rights, The Globe reported Thursday.
In
an open letter to Martin, Toronto's Cardinal Aloysius Ambrozic voiced his
opposition to same-sex marriages and urged Martin to use the
Constitution's notwithstanding clause to override the Charter of Rights
and Freedoms.
This
override law has a five-year time span during which Canadians could debate
the issue, Ambrozic said.
"Rights
are rights are rights," Cotler told The Globe in response to
Ambrozic's request.
Cotler
said if the notwithstanding clause was used, it "would really be an
acknowledgment by the government that it is violating rights."
Harper
wants to preserve the traditional definition of marriage as being between
one man and one woman, while protecting the rights of same-sex couples by
creating a new kind of civil union.
With
reports from CTV's Joy Malbon and The Canadian Press
