| Polygamy study unrelated to gay-marriage bill Cotler: Federal agency looking at constitutionality of criminal charges at request of B.C. | |
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By Tim Naumetz and Chris Cobb CanWest News Service | |
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler denied yesterday the government has launched a study into polygamy vs. the Charter of Rights out of fear a new law legalizing same-sex marriage may also open the door to legalized plural marriage. Cotler disclosed his department asked Status of Women Canada, a federal government agency, to commission a research project on the subject, but he said it was at the request of the British Columbia government in the wake of complaints about polygamy at a religious commune near Creston, B.C. "We don't see any connection - I repeat, any connection - between the issue of polygamy and the issue of same-sex marriage," Cotler told reporters. His department asked Status of Women to investigate the constitutionality of Criminal Code prohibitions against polygamy in light of charter guarantees of religious freedom. "The attorney-general of British Columbia and the British Columbia deputy minister asked us to look into this issue because there have been investigations, as you know, in British Columbia," Cotler added. "We don't know whether charges will be laid, but there is a question of constitutionality." Cotler insisted the new same-sex marriage law - which the government is introducing after the Supreme Court ruled it is unconstitutional to ban same-sex marriages - will not lead to legalized polygamy. "Polygamy is a criminal offence, it is illegal," Cotler said. "Same-sex marriage is constitutional and valid." However, Canadian Islamic Congress president Mohamed Elmasry said polygamy, as practised in Muslim countries and by "a few" Canadian Muslims, can be a positive family force. He said polygamy can be more moral than a secret affair, because the first wife accepts the second wife - and the second wife, and all children of both marriages, are treated equally in one family unit. "Mistresses, and especially kids from a mistress, can have big, big problems," he said. "It is devastating when a kid cannot say, 'This is my father.' " Any Canadian can legally practise polygamy, Elmasry argued. "You just have to label your second wife a mistress or girlfriend." | |
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canada.com Originally published January 21, 2005 | |
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