Yesterday I watched with bewilderment as the Leftwing politicians, lobbyists and media assailed the Harper Government over the difficulty a foreign gay couple is having obtaining a divorce.
Perhaps the most egregious of these attacks was the one by Paul Martin, accusing the governent of ‘tampering’ with same-sex marriage.
This is a complex legal problem that seems to have developed on his watch so it really is rich for him to be castigating Stephen Harper for this one.
The National Post has an excellent article showing some of the inherent issues that need to be addressed – Same-sex union issue ‘closed’:
The federal lawyer’s argument against granting the couple a divorce may “seem crazy,” but it does have at least some foundation in an arcane, technical branch of the law meant to reconcile different jurisdiction’s regulations, experts said.
The residency requirements for getting divorced here are a quagmire that was just waiting to suck someone in, they argue.
“It’s a legal mess,” commented Brenda Cossman, a family law professor at the University of Toronto. “There have been a couple of us who have been saying for a time, ‘This train is coming down the track and there are some bodies tied to the tracks.’ And now here it is.”
As Eric and Iceman note this is more about same-sex divorce than anything else. It is also another instance of the Liberal media ‘chasing wafers’ as Wilson so aptly put it.
And to any gay couples planning to use Canada as a Marriage Tourism destination, please do your homework first. It may be easier (and less expensive) to get married in Canada than it is to get divorced.
Straight couples learned that a long time ago.
* * * *
Update
Some common sense here from the Calgary Herald – Divorced from reality:
For its part, the Globe over-played the front-page story, including a bold and splashy headline: “The same-sex marriage trap.”
How is it a trap? Same-sex couples coming to Canada to get married presumably already know their marriages won’t be valid in the jurisdiction where they live. Why else come to Canada to get married, legally but symbolically, as it should go without saying that those legal rights do not travel with them.
The marriage is legal in Canada and would have been viewed as such, and divorce would have been allowed, had the couple stayed here, but they did not. They moved to jurisdictions that don’t accept Canada’s marriage law. Canada can’t force its rules on other jurisdictions, nor should it, for those other jurisdictions might want to force their rules upon Canada…
Tonda MacCharles deserves credit for this very fair and objective column – Conservatives suggest divorce law could be revised to help same-sex couples.
BREAKING – Conservative Government to Fix Liberal Mistakes! (Once again.) Covered by BC Blue and Hatrock’s Cave.
More Noteworthy Links (that should have been in a new post but I’m too tired):
Andrew Coyne on gay marriage: Shoddy reporting and cheap politics create a phony crisis – Full Comment:
Before long she was joined by a swelling chorus of indignation: on the Globe’s website, on Twitter, and from the ranks of the opposition, all of whom agreed the government was engaged in some sort of skullduggery. At best, it was attempting to export its social conservatism to other countries. At worst, it was allowing their social conservatism to dictate the law here.
You would never know from any of this that in fact there had been no change in policy: that the position advanced by the government lawyer was not new, but merely a statement of settled law. You would never know because neither the Globe nor anyone in the frothing mob it aroused bothered to ask a lawyer — other than the one contesting the case. Had they done so, they would have been told some version of the following:
Normally marriage law is relatively straightforward. Each country defines marriage for itself, and within its borders its citizens are bound by that definition. Where citizens of one country marry in another, however, responsibility is divided between the two, according to the set of common-law rules known as “conflict of laws.”
Minsky’s musings: Some facts under the story – Global News:
There was no policy reversal and no law change. There wasn’t even a proposal to change the law.
But why let facts get in the way of a good smear, right Lefties? (You know who you are, you scum.)
Marriage starts off with a clean slate, divorce means dividing the spoils, it can get complicated, takes a lot more time than the marriage ceremony.
Gay couples got the right to marry touting equality,they can expect the same rules to apply to their marriages and divorces as straight couples.
Just the latest example of the mediocre “reporting” from the usual suspects on the left. Tom Flanagan was clearly disappointed, on Soloman’s Power and Politics, that so much time was wasted on this almost entirely legal issue. Especially when a much more interesting political story–the Lib convention–could have been on the agenda.
Flanagan was surely prepared to give advice to the Libs, that us junkies would find interesting. Hey Soloman, stop and check the name of your silly show, every once in a while. And please, please, try to replace the TWO lefty partisans with ONE.
Let the Lib and Dipper flip a coin, or arm or arm wrestle or something, to decide who gets on air.
The opposition parties,and some of the gay community stated on tv that Canada is a laughing stock to the rest of the world.Yes, I also believe we are the laughing stock of the world but for allowing same-sex marriage in the first place.I have a Chinese wife who is still living in China,and she thinks its awful that we allow same-sex so called marriage,and naturally she’s not a christian,but she and most other Chinese are family oriented,like we used to be until the liberals destroyed it.I don’t think that the majority of Asian immigrants believe in same-sex marriage.
Welcome to the realities of marriage – where there is a marriage there is always the possibility of divorce. Breaking up is hard to do and wishful thinking that it would be clean, easy and no pain was a dream not based on the reality of millions of divorcing couples. Anytime you have disappointed expectations, property, children etc. there is going to be issues. Marriage is hard work and the breakup is harder. Cheers.
Oh come on folks this has nothing to do with divorce, gay or straight. This is simply a lead up to the Liberal convention and an attempt to detract from the good news and political points PM Harper has racked up lately. Good grief he has done some serious damage to the greenies, kick started the ship building industry all the while posting a billion dollar trade surplus in the face of a looming recession. In the mean time all the Liberals and their media have is the who cares question ‘should Bob Rae be permanent leader?’
Joe has a point. this SSM divorce is one topic we need to abandon
best Blog on topic Jo
we should discuss all the JOBS that the ship building will create for Canadians
Good job Prime Minister Harper .
The Prime Minister works hard for Canadians
The opposition only tries to SMEAR Canadians and our Canadian Government
fh
Why are the media and gays trying to say this is all PMSH’s fault. It is not. Those divorce laws apply to any couple trying to divorce in Canada, that were married in Canada. You must live in Canada for 10 months prior to divorce proceedings.
I agree, the PM has done serious damage to the greenies, by bringing out some facts they would prefer to keep hidden.
As this hearing goes on, more will come out and they will lose credibility and donations.
Personally I’m not worried. In a month or two maybe even less time than that there will be legislation to amend the divorce act that will fix this situation. The PM will be able to stand up in parliament and say he is defending gay marriage and fixing a liberal mess. You lose again Bob, you lose again.
It may happen even sooner.
Ha ha well there you go. Don’t play checkers with a chess master Bob. This is not the dippers you’re playing against.
And yet Bob Rae gets himself in deeper. Please tell me if this makes any sense at all:
What am I missing? Anyone?
You Joanne are not missing anything!
However, Bob Rae is showing how small and amateurish he is with such a comment. That’s the sort of stuff you’d expect from the kids in party, like Jr. Trudeau.
He’s got Liberal Leaders Disease,
it happened to Ignatieff too….. intelligent men turn into partisan fools, lose sense of reality
When the residency laws are changed re divorce, this time the govt will make sure all the other laws this affects will be investigated. Some expert was just on ctv saying that this is an example of putting in legislation without doing due diligence to what else it will affect. Liberals screwed up big time and not they and the media are trying to blame PMSH.
Said expert also mentioned that pension, investments, etc could be affected by said divorce. Why are ss couples wanting a divorce, they fought so hard to get married. Guess they were lying.
Same with the abortion funding for 3rd world countries. Motion made by Rae to fund these was defeated in a minority govt when 3 libs voted with our side and other liberals failed to show up.
Breaking news, govt has supposedly lifted the ban on election results being broadcast until all polls close. That should be interesting next time around.
That could be bad news for the ndpq in western Canada if Que elects them again.
This is off topic, but something I posted on the globe, after stumbling on it today … related to why I think one of the LPC or NDP are going to meet their demise in the Quebec graveyard :
Do a search in Elections Canada,
of all donors named “Pierre” in the third quarter of 2011, by political party, and you get these rough total dollar amounts:
CPC: $4,000
LPC:$3,500
BQ: $700
NDP: $0
So the Dippers are getting ZERO “Pierre” returns for their massive efforts in Quebec !
It looks like “strong hand” that Jack left them in Quebec, is really all jokers.
o/t
One radical American funded inviro group (Dogwood) was bragging on radio yesterday that they signed up 1600 people to ‘mob the mic’ at the Northern Gateway Pipeline hearings. That’s 1/3 of all the so called interveners from one radical enviro group.
PMSH has the power to cut short the hearings,
and armed with this info, from the horses mouth…. he should use that power.
Heard on SunNN that PMSH can stop the hearings at a certain point , and ask the rest of interveners to submit their position in writing.
Poor Barry O, pile on in the US to approve the XL Pipeline,
will Congress armed with legislation to bypass the Prez for the go ahead.
As a Vancouver resident, I’d much prefer an oil spill in Vancouver harbour than in an isolated bay hundreds of miles up the coast….
p.s. funny how the LPC is lead by an exDipper Premier and the Dippers will be led by an exLib cabmin.
It just goes to show you that when it comes to the LPC and the NDP, they are both interchangeable with one another, and that the only thing that differentiates them is a negligible degree of separation. I suspect that is why the NDP did relatively well in the last election. Leftwing voters have figured out that it is probably better for their cause to vote for real socialists instead of people that pretend to be socialists half of the time when it suits them.
Look the LIEberal Party is incapable of forming a marriage…what these incompetents created is an international nullity. Although they did almost manage to produce a national divorce with Quebec, but that is another story.
In a demonstrably vote grabbing move, they decided ex-nihilo to create the legal fiction called SSM. This isn’t about respecting gays to do whatever it is they do. It was plainly the notion that one man one woman marriage ‘offended’ the LIEberal sense of entitlement.
Classically, formation of families follow the one man one woman begets children model. This is how the human species regenerates itself.
Biologically SS unions are incapable of producing children, in short they are a genetic cul de sac.
No amount of legal gerrymandering is going to change the biology of the human species, whether it fits with LIEberal ideology or not. You get to choose your opinions, but you don’t get to choose the facts of life.
The LIEberals however don’t like these facts because they are politically inconvenient so they throw a childish temper tantrum and create a constuct that defies common sense and wonder why it has so many unintended consequences.
The inverted demographics of the LIEberals have finally come home to roost and these clowns can’t understand why a you can’t square a circle. Good luck chums…
Cheers
Hans-Christian Georg Rupprecht, Commander in Chief
Frankenstein Battalion
2nd Squadron: Ulanen-(Lancers) Regiment Großherzog Friedrich von Baden(Rheinisches) Nr.7(Saarbrucken)
Knecht Rupprecht Division
Hans Corps
1st Saint Nicolaas Army
Army Group “True North”
Go and take a look at Liblogs right now. There are hardly any bloggers over there, other than the usual perpetually outraged ones, that are taking up this hue and cry. I realize that their are having a convention, but you’d think that they would have tried to find the time to run with this a little more strenusously than this over there. It is obvious why, like James at 1025am stated – In a month or two maybe even less time than that there will be legislation to amend the divorce act that will fix this situation. The PM will be able to stand up in parliament and say he is defending gay marriage and fixing a liberal mess. You lose again Bob, you lose again.
Just checking in while grandson is napping. It appears there is some breaking news – All same-sex marriages legal: Canadian justice minister.
Now we’ll wait for the lefties at the Globe to cover this. Yeah right.
Just another day in silly-media party gotcha world I’m afraid.
Bob Rae needs to grow up and present some alternatives past feigned outrage.
Paul Martin fathered this mess, now of course it is the Conservatives fault.
Typical, the baby needs changing, pass it to someone else.
Social engineering always comes at a price, in the real world as we all know there are consequences, unintended or otherwise.
Of course the Progressives can’t accept any of the blame, their intentions were good.
I guess this will dominate the Liberal Convention, what else do they have?
Last thing Bob wants is Liberals looking for a real Leader.
Deflect, project, obfuscate.
But it’s Friday, perhaps a chuckle ?
Perhaps a song, with apologies to J Buffet
Wastin’ away in Marriage-ville
dedicated to Third Row Bob
Nibblin’ on weddin’ cake
Watchin’ the news break
strummin my outrage
Tryin’ for the front page
smellin’ the faux outrage
It’s beginnin’ to spoil
Wastin’ away in Wafer-ville
Stepped in Kyoto’s doo-doo
now it’s on my shoe
Looking for the Lost Leaders Job
Some people claim misfortune is to blame
I know it’s my own damm fault
I don’t know the reason I’m in third place
I thought it was a horse race
How to win, I ain’t got a clue
I got a new outrage
gonna be front page
Yes some people say there’s a Conservative to blame
But I know it’s my own damm fault.
Good one Bubba, I’ll drink to that, a Margarita of course!
Thanks Liz J, The way things are actually working out I think the Liberals are going for the elusive off-shore SSM vote.
I don’t know how many SSM’s there have been I saw a figure of 1500, how many of that group aren’t even citizens. There are 35,000,000 people in Canada.
That is a very small group of people to dominate the news for as long as it has.
The law is very precise as to pensions, wills, citizenship etc.
The two marriage tourists are not citizens, their marriage is not legal anywhere but Canada.
Once again all the noise and fury is an excuse to wail about all things Conservative.
The NDPQ and the Liberals are on the wrong side of history and ordinary Canadians .
They have both decided to oppose the pipeline to join the rag tag Green terrorists, who are financed by foreigners.
I think Bob Rae is shooting himself in the foot again, please continue Bob.
Thank whatever Gods there be the grownups are running Canada.
Great comment Bubba Brown.Gerald
On the hidden agenda bogeyman issue, Wilson asked yesterday:
“Why do the Liberals and their media keep bashing their heads against that brick wall, over and over”?
I think that the Liberal “hidden agenda” scare probably started with some of Chretien’s campaigns, but if definitely was a feature of Paul Martin’s first run in 2004.
At the start of that campaign he was PM with 172 Liberal seats. This number declined by about 24% for each of the next 3 elections, before dropping -56% last May to 34 seats. Still, Liberals keep coming back to this plank, that has served them so well; Bob Rae will be highlighting this idea at the present convention, just as he was yesterday.
Many of the Liberals touting this line, like Martin and Ignatieff are retired to private life.
It is not my role to advise the LPC, but surely, you would think their heavy thinkers would get the message that this idea just isn’t working for them.
Soloman made a fool of himself yesterday, and his guests only helped him along. While I did mute portions of the show, I never heard him say that hetero couples face the exact same problem. At one point they ran the headline at the bottom of the screen “SAME SEX MARRIAGE SHOCKER”. His poll question on today’s show should be “do you think the government is trying to re-open the debate on heterosexual marriage?”
I wonder if he will clarify matters on his show today? Ah, I see Rosie is hosting.
I agree iceman. Solomon is losing all credibilty by not even attempting to provide a fair and balanced program. No wonder Canadians are screaming… Sell the CBC!
It took over an hour before the same sex marriage issue was mentioned on today’s show. The headline was “Same Sex Marriage Spat”. They talked about it for a few minutes and moved on, declaring the “controversy” dead. The media jumped all over this without doing their due dilligence, evidenced by Evan’s poll question yesterday “do you think the government is trying to re-open the gay marriage debate” and almost 70% of his audience voted yes. Turns out that many who watch the show are also guilty of premature speculation.
Heh. But when have you ever seen a CBC poll that didn’t favour the left. If this were a tweet, I’d add the hashtag #fixed.
Apologies to CJ at 11:10 am whose comment got stuck in cyberspace and finally surfaced in the filter.
Rob Nicholson was on Power Play and talked about a ‘legislative gap’ which needs to be addressed in the original Civil Marriage Act (or something to that effect.)
They will be acting on that. It drives me crazy that the Liberals have the nerve to criticize the present government on this when it was their fault regarding the oversight!
Andrew Coyne on gay marriage: Shoddy reporting and cheap politics create a phony crisis
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2012/01/13/andrew-coyne-on-gay-marriage-shoddy-reporting-and-cheap-politics-create-a-phony-crisis/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
That was the best piece I’ve read that was written by Andrew Coyne in a few years. As soon as I saw it, I had to blog and link it.
Thursday’s Soloman Show was Evan at his worst. People should read the Coyne peice and then download Thursday’s Soloman Show for an informative lesson on left wing journalism.
Hmmmm, link must have gone to comment prison,
Andrew Coyne BLASTED the media and Opps over there meltdown on the gay marriage thing
first paragraph:
”…This week’s media meltdown over same-sex marriage for foreign tourists was one of the more disgraceful episodes in the long history of phoney controversies in this country: a toxic mix of shrewd lawyering, shoddy reporting and partisan opportunism, all without the slightest reference to the relevant, and easily obtainable, facts…”
Even the media is getting sick of the wafer chasing journos
‘Comment prison’. That’s great Wilson! I was just going to add that link too.
Well I guess I’ll have to revise my opinion on Mr. Coyne.
Maybe he has realized it is not the CPC that deserves the label Stupid People’s Party…. it’s the Media Party who have earned the title
Yeah it’s hard to forgive him for that one.
great work by Andrew Coyne and Minsky but as usual facts mean nothing to the lame stream media
but important for us to get the facts out
LSM love our excitement
fh
Stock up on your potent potables, Daddy Dalton is going to up the taxes on them, for our own good of course.
What’s next? Freezing in the dark waiting for wind to blow and sun to shine for energy? Now happy hour is taking a hit when we need it most to ease the stress of living in McGuinty’s Ontario.
Too bad we have no opposition at Queen’s Park, he’s still doing whatever he pleases, listening to nobody knowing the PC’s and Dippers are polar opposites.
Stock up on your potent potables, Daddy Dalton is going to up the taxes on them, for our own good of course.
*Sigh* Would you happen to have a link Liz? Thanks.
This is the same Dalton that promised once again in the last election not to raise taxes, right?
Toronto Sun: “Tough news to swallow-booze prices to rise”
Something else to watch as it unfolds, also from Toronto Sun: “ORNGE gets new leadership”. This has the smell of a boondoggle of major proportions.
So watch out, Daddikins will be hitting us anywhere else he can to drain our pocket books to pay for his ineptitude as Premier. He has no shame, just blame, he and his MP’s still blaming Mike Harris who has been out of power and politics for a decade.
Ah thanks. Link here.
I guess only rich people are allowed to be irresponsible drinkers.
The mention of beer prices being adjusted for “inflation” is an economic absurdity, possible only in a McGuinty world. Beer and other spirits are very much part of the consumer basket of goods making up the CPI, the official measure for inflation. If this argument held for all other items, inflation would spiral up relentlessly, as each increase fed on the previous one.
This is a simple tax/revenue grab, as part of the taxes are based on a per centage of selling price.
The idea of minimum beer prices to control consumption is also nonsence, as the government has many other means to accomplish this apart from price. Reducing the lavish LCBO advertising budget for one example. Again it is all about maximizing government taxes.
Coming home from the LCBO yesterday, I was surprised to hear that we were going to be paying more for a bottle of wine.
Wasn’t there a recent report that said Ontarians should be paying less for alcohol and that the LCBO was charging too much?
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1097173–lcbo-prices-higher-than-they-should-be-a-g
What gives?
Daddy Dalton knows best.