RE: All rise for the Utah sheriffs, February 4, 2013
To the editor of The Globe and Mail ,
The Globe and Mail has chosen to express an opinion on the U.S. constitution in which it illogically conflates insinuated violent civil disobedience in the USA with an evident Canadian injustice. Marriage commissioners in some parts of Canada were forced to resign; their constitutional right to freedom of religion thrown to the wind by government authorities that chose to ignore the Supreme Court of Canada’s clear statements that there is no hierarchy of rights in regard to fair treatment of Canadians and that religious marriage officiates should be protected from being required to perform marriage ceremonies that violate their religious beliefs. Prime Minister Martin’s federal government effort to reinforce protection of those rights by embedding in the Civil Marriage Act (2005) recognition that no one be forced to perform civil marriages contrary to their religious beliefs was similarly ignored by those provincial governments. In other provinces, the religious beliefs of marriage commissioners were respected and accommodated without compromising the change in civil marriage requirements that permits marriage of same sex couples. If you’re talking about guns, stick to your guns!
Sincerely,
Don Hutchinson
Vice-President, General Legal Counsel
The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada