Far from over (sigh)

Stephen Harper is continuing to make as much political hay as he can of the same-sex marriage bill. I received the following in an email newsletter this morning:

Next week the Citizens' Centre's "Gay Marriage? Let the People Decide!" message will appear on a huge electronic billboard overlooking Highway 403 and Main Street West, the main highway intersection from Hamilton to Toronto. More billboards are coming in Niagara, Cambridge and along the Gardiner Expressway, calling for a national referendum.

Last month, Harper toured Québec, met with representatives of a variety of religious and immigrant communities, and ran ads in small papers as part of a grass-roots campaign. It seems clear that he’s learnt the lesson of the last US election: if he makes himself known across the country as a staunch supporter of conservative religious values, he can win the votes of people who disagree with him on less important matters, such as, say, the military, healthcare, education, or the tax rate. He’s also attacked the Liberal party’s ability to take the moral high ground on any issue because they jailed Japanese Canadians and refused Jewish refugees during World War II, a clear example of the Chewbacca Defense if I’ve ever seen one.

I still don’t understand why so many straight people care about this. It’s not like anyone’s trying to force them to get a same-sex marriage. And now these basic rights will be decided by a public debate in which any idea too complex to be expressed on a bumper sticker will be ignored.

Somebody tell me this will end soon.