Tuesday April 12, 2005
Harper Calls Changing Definition of Marriage "An Assault" on Culture and Religion
OTTAWA, April 12, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Along with numerous other Members of Parliament and religious leaders, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper and former Alliance Leader Stockwell Day addressed the almost 20,000 people gathered in Ottawa to defend traditional marriage.
Harper was clearly impressed with the size of the crowd as he said, "I am thankful that so many of you, from so many communities, from so many parts of this great country, have taken the time and the effort to come here today." He added, "This crowd represents all ages, all ethnic communities, 'our two national languages' (said in French), all churches, all faiths."
Harper contrasted the Liberal government's push for the homosexual 'marriage' legislation with the Conservative Party of which he said, "Fully 95 of our 99 MPs support traditional marriage. At our recent convention, the delegates voted three to one to support traditional marriage."
Harper's strongest comments in defence of marriage came after he recalled his trip to the funeral of Pope John Paul II. "Undermining the traditional definition of marriage is an assault on the beliefs of virtually all cultural and religious communities who have come to this country," he said. "It is an assault on multiculturalism in any serious sense of the word."
The Conservative Leader recalled the human rights tribunal hearings faced by both a Knights of Columbus organization in BC for refusing a gay wedding at their hall and Calgary Bishop Fred Henry for "simply expressing the teachings of his faith" on homosexuality. He commented, "The Liberals have put your religious freedoms in jeopardy." As he concluded Harper said to cheers, "Family is the real Canadian value."
In his speech, Day encouraged people to call Prime Minister Paul Margin at 1-800-O-Canada to demand that he allow all Liberal MPs, cabinet members included a free vote on the issue.
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