Horse Kicking with Harper

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is really going to prove his point...no matter how dull-witted or meaningless. He said this week that he truly intends to (eventually) get around to a free vote in Parliament on the long-settled same-sex marriage issue.

He knows it's dead. He knows he has no shot. He knows that even if he were somehow to buck all odds and get a vote to repeal the law, the court decision, and the various provincial enablings of SSM, it would all come undone in both courts and Parliament.

And yet, he's doing what Conservatives expect of him. He campaigned on the Quixotic promise to hold a free vote and by gum, he'll do it. Originally, he had said he'd call for the vote as soon as possible. That has become the fall of 2006.

Meanwhile, the situation is somewhat similar to that in Massachusetts. To wit:

• Locals throughout the nation see that SSM does not change their lives and is good for SS couples.
• Public opinion continues to grow in favor of SSM.
• In a January poll of over 2,000 Canadians, 66% said no to a vote and 30% said yes.
• Even Tory voters were 49% against a vote and 47% for.
• Those in other parties were 77% against and 20% for.

In short, as in the Bay State, folks think lawmakers and officials should do real business and let old matters alone.

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Tags: massmarrier, Canada, Stephen Harper, SSM marriage, same-sex