Moral Clarity

Some people might think that Equal Marriage rights aren't an issue that's as important as I think it is. Rex Murphy, for example, thinks that Civil Unions are a "compromise position" that the government should have gone with, not full equality. Now, never mind that the phrase "separate but equal" has no place, and should never have a place in Canadian law. Why should we put equality up for a referendum? We've never put any other fundamental rights up for a vote - we just did it. Often, much later than we should have.

Meanwhile, the bad example of our neighbours to the south has, I think, given some the impression that this is an issue that's open for debate. It isn't. Either you're for equality for all Canadian citizens, or you aren't. Supporting anything short of full equality says nothing about gays or marriage, but says a great deal about who we are as a country.

We're right. They (Americans, specifically Conservative Americans) are wrong. Moreover, on every moral issue where our two nations have disagreed in the past two centuries, we have always been right, and they have always been wrong.

• Slavery? We didn't officially abolish it on our own, of course. But long before official abolition, Canada was a safe haven for refugees from the terror state to our south. We were right, they were wrong.
  
• World War II? Not only were we there before the US, our young men were in Spain fighting Fascism in Europe while many American conservatives were welcoming Fascism in the US. Our government told our boys they were on their own, but they fought Franco anyway. We lost the fight in Spain, but some times you fight even if you lose. We were right, they were wrong.
• Vietnam? While the US was busy butchering a generation of Indochinese for no reason whatsoever, our PM (Pearson) went to the US and called bullshit on them. He got slapped around (literally) by LBJ for doing so, but he did it anyway. We were right, they were wrong.
• Health Care? Don't think it isn't a moral issue. Canada guarantees that every citizen is tangibly, physically, medically equal. It's possibly the most revolutionary act of government in the 20th century, and the US still hasn't caught up. We are right, they are wrong.
  
• Capital Punishment? Ditto. Dubya may not care if some darkies get whacked by a corrupt judicial system, but we do. Twice in the last generation, the Commons has voted on the death penalty, and twice it failed. Closely, but it still failed. These days, even if it were brought in by the Conservatives, it would probably be ruled unconstitutional. God bless the Charter. We are right, they are wrong.
• Gay rights? Long before this most recent fight, Canada was not just exceeding, but embarrassing the US. Trudeau got rid of anti-sodomy laws in the 1970s. The US finally ruled them unconstitutional back in ye olden dayes of 2003 - right about the time we were first extending gay marriage rights provincially. We were right, they were wrong.
  
• First Nations? Sadly, shamefully, terribly, for a long time both our countries agreed on the proper policies for how to deal with the First Nations. The effects of those policies are still visible today. However, we have moved much farther in trying to escape the legacy of our past - not by ignoring or denying, but by healing. We're right, they're wrong.
  

Canada has a reputation to maintain. Say it loud, say it proud: We're right, they're wrong.