Families in peril!

>> Canada's Christian right pulls out the stops in the fight against Bill C-23

by PHILIP PREVILLE

A strange role-reversal has taken place in Canada's gay rights political arena. In the not-so-distant past, queer activists were the noisy ones, marching, demonstrating, fighting tooth and nail for what their opponents called "special rights."

Now, it seems, the nation's Christian conservatives are playing that role. They've been bombarding Ottawa with phone calls, faxes and e-mails urging MPs to vote against Bill C-23, the legislation extending to same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual common-law couples. And Wednesday's National Post featured a full-page ad from the group Focus on the Family opposing C-23. "It's an attack on every traditional family and marriage in Canada," the ad reads. "Whether you're Jewish, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, Bill C-23 strikes at the very root of our cultural, social and moral traditions."

Meanwhile, gays and lesbians have become the complacent ones--a worrying trend for some. A recent e-mail advisory sent out by Ottawa-based EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) claims that "calls to the government opposing C-23 are vastly outnumbering calls in support. Many members of our communities consider the passage of this bill a fait accompli... but such an approach underestimates the strength of the opposition to this bill."

More ironic still is that the bill's opponents are acting like the special interest groups they once so despised. Focus on the Family's ad says that C-23 "would strip the institution of marriage of any special status in Canadian law." Says Bill Gallagher, spokesperson for the Foundation for Equal Families: "The way I read that ad, they're saying they should have special rights. Our argument is that the law should treat everybody equally."

Social-engineering tax
If passed, Bill C-23 would extend the rights and obligations of common-law couples to gay and lesbian ones, including: the right to claim spousal benefits under the Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security; the right of immigrants to have their same-sex spouse admitted to Canada; and the right to claim the child tax credit and other benefits through federal income tax.

The issue of tax advantages is raised by Focus on the Family on its Web site (www.fotf.ca). They claim that all taxpayers will end up paying to support same-sex relationships as a result of C-23's changes to the Income Tax Act, and that "the government has eliminated any incentive under federal law for a man and a woman to marry."

Gallagher says their argument goes nowhere. "I know tens of thousands of gay people, and none of them ever decided to become straight because it lowered their tax bill," he says. "The tax laws weren't developed to help marriages, they were developed to help families--to help people in dependent relationships. Extending those benefits can only help." Gallagher also stresses that same-sex couples will also be subject to the same obligations as their straight counterparts, including spousal and child support if relationships break down.

Focus on the Family did not return the Mirror's calls by press time.

While most MPs are in favour of the legislation (it recently passed second reading in the Commons by a margin of 160 to 61), all parties are divided internally on the issue. The bill's opponents include five Conservatives, nine Bloquistes and 14 Liberals--a group of backbenchers known in the Liberal caucus as the "God squad." "No one is calling it a free vote, but it's certainly shaping up that way," Gallagher says.

The bill must pass third reading in the House of Commons and then be passed in the Senate before becoming law. :

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