A $150,000 study commissioned by the
Justice
Department and Status of Women Canada, looking at the legal and social ramifications
of polygamy, was released January 13, 2006. Four papers make up
the study. Two papers come to different recommendations about polygamy and the
law.
One study recommends that Canada legalize polygamy. The paper was done by three
law professors at Queen's University in Kingston. The paper argues that a Charter
challenge to Section 293 of the Criminal Code banning polygamy might be successful.
The study also argues that Canadian laws should be changed to better accommodate
the problems of women in polygamous marriages, providing them with spousal
support and inheritance rights. (read the study:
Expanding
Recognition of Foreign Polygamous Marriages: Policy Implications for Canada)
The other study by the
Alberta
Civil Liberties Research Centre, urges British Columbia to proceed immediately
with a prosecution in Bountiful.
(read the study:
Separate
and Unequal: The Women and Children of Polygamy)
The Federal government commissioned the study into polygamy weeks before it introduced same-sex legislation in June 2005. There was concern that legalized homosexual marriage could lead to constitutional challenges from minority groups who claim polygamy as a religious right.
The polygamy debate hit the news when Conservative leader Stephen Harper warned
that same sex marriage could make polygamy legal in Canada. Former PM Paul
Martin said that polygamy would never be legal in Canada. Former Justice Minister
Irwin Cotler denied there was any link between the two issues. "We don't see
any connection - I repeat, any connection - between the issue of polygamy and
the issue of same sex marriage."
A Status of Women document stated: "In order to best prepare for possible debate
surrounding Canada's polygamy policy, critical research is needed".
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