The Liberals are flailing about trying to keep up with what they perceive as “the times” in the gay ‘marriage’ debate and their emergency top priority gay ‘marriage’ bill being rushed through Parliament. Apparently after thousands of years of civilisation, the times changed a couple years ago. But not all Liberals got the memo.
OTTAWA (CP) – The Liberal government is trying to quash internal resistance to its same-sex marriage bill by urging dissenters to “take a walk” on voting day, says one caucus rebel.
“There’s great pressure being put on Liberal MPs by some of the party leadership,” said London, Ont., MP Pat O’Brien, a vocal critic of the divisive legislation tabled Tuesday. “I’ve had a couple today tell me they’ve been encouraged to, as the phrase goes, ‘take a walk’ at the time of the vote,” he said in an interview.
“On a matter of conscience like this, I’m disappointed that those pressure tactics are being used.
“What it tells me is that this vote’s closer than people would like to think, and that the government’s a little nervous.”
Several Liberals, a few Bloc MPs and one NDPer say they can’t support the bill. Most Conservatives have promised to fight it to the last. Many others are undecided.
But let’s rewind the tape a bit! As recently as 1999, when an opposition Reform Party bill was put forward calling on parliament “to take all necessary steps to preserve this definition of marriage,” the Liberals voted in favor of preserving the traditional definition of marriage.
Then Justice Minister Anne McLellan (that’s Irwin Cotler today) lead the Liberal move to back the Reform Party motion, which passed by a vote of 216 to 55 with mostly NDP members voting against it.
“The definition of marriage is already clear in law,” she said during the debate. “This government has no intention of changing the definition of marriage or legislating same-sex marriage.
“I fundamentally do not believe that it’s necessary to change the definition of marriage to accommodate the equality issues around same-sex partners that now face us as Canadians.”
The Minister of Finance at the time, a Mr. Paul Martin (or something), also went around trumpeting the traditional marriage theme, saying traditional marriage must be defended. All sorts of Liberals ran around touting the extreme importance of protecting the traditional definition of marriage.
Then in 2003, they had another vote in the House. This time, suddenly, the Liberals changed their morals, their minds, or switched their pot supplier, or something, and in a vote to re-affirm traditional marriage, the bill failed by a close 137-132. Nineteen (19) Liberal members of parliament were out for a walk that day and didn’t vote! Also walking were 2 NDP members and 8 BLOC members.
I wish more Liberals would take a walk. I wish they all would.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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