Is Canada’s moral landscape being re-mapped?
Several controversial moral issues were debated in the House of Commons this spring. Christian organizations have been busy participating in public hearings on the definition of marriage, and responding to legislation on reproductive technologies and changes to the hate crimes section of the Criminal Code.
These three initiatives are all nearing the end of their process in the House of Commons, and may have a significant impact on Canadian society.
The public hearings on marriage are in response to a Justice Department discussion paper that asks whether marriage is still relevant to Canadian society and how the government should change its regulation of marriage.
The paper sets out three options with respect to marriage: first, keep the current heterosexual definition of marriage and establish domestic partnerships; or, second, redefine marriage to include same-sex partners; or, third, the government could get out of the marriage business entirely, replacing “marriage" with civil unions.
The Justice Committee has been holding hearings across Canada this spring, and its report is expected before Parliament breaks for the summer. The committee's report will guide the federal government's future action on marriage.
The debate in these hearings is whether the definition of marriage discriminates against same-sex couples. Christian pro-family groups argue that marriage is a unique and distinctive institution that should not be redefined. Many pro-family groups have made written submissions, distributed petitions and encouraged letter-writing campaigns among their supporters.
Although there is consensus among evangelicals that the federal government should support the opposite-sex definition of marriage, the United Church of Canada appeared before the committee in favour of redefining marriage to include homosexual couples.
Hate bill
Another issue of significant concern to Christians this spring has been a private member's bill on hate crimes. British Columbia MP Svend Robinson's private member's bill would include “sexual orientation" in the list of characteristics protected in the Criminal Code hate crimes section. Bill C-250 was reviewed by the Justice Committee this spring, and many evangelical groups appeared to express their concerns that this bill would restrict religious freedom in Canada.
While Christians are against hatred, many are concerned that “hatred" is so broadly defined it will include moral disapproval of homosexual behaviour. Several Christian organizations are concerned this bill will have a chilling effect on speech and may lead to portions of Scripture being considered hate literature.
"We are more concerned about this legislation than anything else we've dealt with in CFAC's five year history," states Canadian Family Action Coalition president Roy Beyer. Many Christian organizations have been busy informing their supporters about the bill and encouraging them to contact MPs to express their concerns.
EFC president Bruce Clemenger expressed deep disappointment that the Justice Committee did not have a full discussion of the religious freedom implications before Bill C-250 was sent back to the House of Commons. Bill C-250 may have its final debate and vote as early as this month, but it will more likely be voted on in the fall.
The federal government's bill on reproductive technology has also been the subject of debate this spring. Bill C-13, An Act Respecting Human Reproduction, would prohibit several reproductive activities such as human cloning, commercial surrogacy and germ-line alteration, and set up a regulatory structure to govern others. Canada currently has no restrictions limiting reproductive technologies. Bill C-13 has been reviewed by the Health Committee and is now awaiting its final debate and vote in the House of Commons.
"Campaign Life Coalition has put an extraordinary amount of effort into defeating this bill," says Paul Tuns, editor of Campaign Life Coalition's National News editor.
CLC believes this bill is fundamentally flawed because it does not respect human life as it allows embryonic stem cell research and may have loopholes to allow human cloning. Although all the groups note the flaws in the legislation, some are concerned about the vacuum in Canadian society if no prohibitions or regulatory structure is put in place.
The EFC's Clemenger says "the legislation as it stands is flawed and will allow practices we find morally objectionable, however, if this bill is defeated it may be years before new legislation is introduced, and we are concerned that Canada will continue to be a country where there are no prohibitions or regulations in this complicated area of human reproduction."
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