Politics
Thursday April 13, 2006
Alberta MLA Proposes Protection of Fundamental Freedoms Act
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By Gudrun Schultz
EDMONTON, Alberta, April 13, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An Alberta politician has introduced a bill that would offer protection to those who oppose homosexual “rights.”
Ted Morton, MLA for Foothills-Rockyview, introduced Bill 208 last week, the Protection of Fundamental Freedoms (Marriage) Statues Amendment Act, with amendments to the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, the Marriage Act, and the School Act.
“In a free society, the most important right is the right to disagree with and criticize government policy, and this bill enhances that right,” Morton told the Cochrane Times.
Morton drafted the bill in response to lawsuits and job losses faced by some Canadians who have voiced opposition to the “same-sex marriage” law, Bill C-38, which enshrined same-sex marriage in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. He has criticized the government in the past for not offering more protection to the traditional definition of marriage.
With this bill, he hopes to ensure the right to free speech and freedom of expression on the issue for Albertans.
“[T]here’s been this troubling trend over the last 18-20 months where people who have publicly voiced their opposition to same-sex marriage are being sued or losing their jobs,” he said. “These are pretty blatant instances of violations of the freedom of religion and freedom of speech and freedom of conscience.”
Morton said the federal protections ingrained in Bill C-38 are limited, since they don’t cover areas of provincial jurisdiction.
“All I am really doing is saying that Alberta should step up and at a minimum put in the same types of rights and protections the feds have already put in at the federal level. This is about balancing rights, and what we’re seeing right now is a tax on the rights of people who disagree with same-sex marriage.”
The bill would be the first of its kind provincially in Canada. Morton said he is confident other provinces would follow suit if it passes.
“It creates balance that is surely lacking in other provinces as it is here,” he said. “The fact the feds have already done it is an indication that it is not a particularly radical or alarming move.”
Debate on the bill is expected to begin in about two weeks.
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