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| Great White North |
| Kanuckistan goes dhimmi: Legalize polygamy, study urges |
| 2006-01-13 |
| A new study for the federal Justice Department says Canada should get rid of its law banning polygamy, and change other legislation to help women and children living in such multiple-spouse relationships. âCriminalization does not address the harms associated with valid foreign polygamous marriages and plural unions, in particular the harms to women,â says the report, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. âThe report therefore recommends that this provision be repealed.â The research paper is part of a controversial $150,000 polygamy project, launched a year ago and paid for by the Justice Department and Status of Women Canada. The paper by three law professors at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont., argues that Sec. 293 of the Criminal Code banning polygamy serves no useful purpose and in any case is rarely prosecuted. Instead, Canadian laws should be changed to better accommodate the problems of women in polygamous marriages, providing them clearer spousal support and inheritance rights. âWhy criminalize the behaviour?â she said in an interview. âWe don't criminalize adultery. âIn light of the fact that we have a fairly permissive society ... why are we singling out that particular form of behaviour for criminalization?â Instead, there are other laws available to deal with problems often associated with polygamous unions, which are not legally recognized as marriages in Canada. âIf there are problems such as child abuse, or spousal abuse, there are other criminal provisions or other laws dealing with those problems that certainly should be enforced,â Ms. Bailey said. The Justice Department project was prompted in part by an RCMP investigation into the religious community of Bountiful in Creston, B.C., where polygamy is practised openly. Although the Bountiful case raises immediate issues, Canada is also faced with a rising tide of immigration from Africa and the Middle East, where polygamy is legally and religiously sanctioned. Immigration officers can refuse entry to individuals practising polygamy. Ms. Bailey said Canada should nevertheless offer some recognition to polygamous marriages that are legally valid in foreign countries to help protect women's rights here. Another paper for the project, by the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, urges British Columbia to proceed immediately with a prosecution in Bountiful. âBased on the harms associated with polygamy as it is practised in Bountiful, there do not appear to be any alternatives to prosecution, however difficult it may be.â |
| Posted by:Nimble Spemble |
| #13 I put this one right up there with the attempt to introduce Sharia law in family court. Howlings from the very people the misguided "inclusiveness" lib mentality were trying to embrace put an abrupt end to the idea. Similarly here, news stories locally have immigrant women huffing and puffing. "The sick family structure is why I left my home country and came to Canada. The abuse, the strife, the complete lack of familty unity.. it's why I left. Are you nuts?" was the quote just moments ago on the news from a TO Pakistani women. Roll on Jan 23 - enough of this crap. The stupidity of the left never ceases to amaze me. Like Sharia law, this too will pass. |
| Posted by: Hupomoger Clans9827 2006-01-13 18:43 |
| #12 Thraith-actually, you should look a little closer at Utah. Recently a young teenage boy in Utah who was raised in a polygamous household went public with how damaging his father's polygamy was to the "extended" family. If you need to hear it from someone besides a woman to believe it, his testimony might be a good place to start. LH-an insignificant semantic point. Whether it's decriminalized or legalized, it will have negative consequences. Anyone doubt it? Try bringing home another "wife" and see how positively your current wife responds to this news. I don't think she'll really care if you make a fine point of how this new wife isn't actually your LEGALLY RECOGNIZED "wife". It creates hostility between and within genders and leaves a trail of maladjusted kids in its wake. Unless you really want to emulate the Muslim family model... |
| Posted by: jules 2 2006-01-13 18:07 |
| #11 Nimble, you're sweet. But I can barely keep up having that first husband; I fear I should prove an abject failure at more than one. Now, if I were one of those managerial types of woman... Liberalhawk, I have to disagree with you on this one. Decriminalization is de facto approval. Why should the social workers be sent in for something not against the law? That would be like sending them in for families that are formally registered for home schooling, just because they didn't send their kids to the public schools. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-01-13 18:02 |
| #10 TW, have you given any thought to polyandry? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-01-13 16:52 |
| #9 uh guys? this doesnt seem to be a proposal to recognize plural marriage. Just to decriminalize it, so you can send in the social workers instead of the cops. Like some people want to do with pot. Not that im saying its a good idea - wait till our Esteemed Neighbours get an influx of breakaway polygamous Mormons (or ex-Mormons, depending on you POV) theyll be regretting it. But lets be clear what we're speaking about. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2006-01-13 16:44 |
| #8 Years ago I laughed when someone (a female no less) told me that the âFeminist Movementâ was not only detrimental to society but an ideology that would have an adverse affect on the lives of women. But when an agenda is advanced based simply on the theory that gender inequality is a manifestation of a patriarchal hierarchy, it shouldnât be a surprise that enforcement of Polygamy laws would be twisted as an infringement on âwomenâs rightsâ. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-01-13 16:28 |
| #7 Yeah, like, just look at Utah. |
| Posted by: Thraith Graing8723 2006-01-13 15:42 |
| #6 I read a summary of a study the other day, that concludes, among other things, that many of the problems built into Arab and African societies are actually due to polygamy. The authors spoke specifically of weak familial attachment leading to poor societal attachment, due to rivalries between the offspring of the various wives in defence of their mothers on the one hand, and for their father's attention and favour on the other; overt preference for male over female offspring (what benefit is there to having a daughter when she will be competing with other females for the favour of someone else's son; and the dangerous excess of young men with no chance of marriage because the marriageable females are snatched up in harems on the one hand, and on the other surrounded by frustrated females at home (both mothers and sisters) to whom he feels little attachment and no duty on the one hand, and who are within reach of his bed, unlike all the other females of his society on the other hand. The Canadians are looking at this as if these people who arrive in polygamous relationships are simply Westerners who'd formalized their love affairs, but who otherwise regard men and women as equals. This is self-rationalizing idealism raised to a dangerous level. Shoot, a simple close examination of their indigenous polygamous communities should reveal enough pathologies to keep the psychologists busy for a generation. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2006-01-13 15:05 |
| #5 So they admit that polygamy introduces problems not otherwise encountered in marriage. Might want to chew on that idea for a while, Canada. But let's not stop at inheritance rights and spousal support. You're gonna need to take a hard look at the frequency of rageful revenge attacks by unwilling co-wives. Might see a sudden uptick in acid and knife attacks in Canada. And that doesn't even take into account the mental damage done to women and children in these "families". Creating a generation of self-hating, enraged women and insecure, confused kids-brilliant. |
| Posted by: jules 2 2006-01-13 14:35 |
| #4 It isn't just Canada. A man with many wives (or women) and many children is well blessed in a welfare society. Goat herding from under the tent flap is much, much easier than farming. As we all know, farmingbehard. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-01-13 14:17 |
| #3 2 problems with Polygamy that instantly come to mind- 1. Multiple ##'s of inlaws. 2. You know your wives will gang up on you at some point. Then it gets ugly. |
| Posted by: N guard 2006-01-13 14:12 |
| #2 Oh, sure guys, go for polygamy, but where's the equal rights for us gals. Polyandry is the way to go. ___Speretle Whereger8983 (who is actually not a man) |
| Posted by: Speretle Whereger8983 2006-01-13 14:04 |
| #1 Saw this article today...no mention of Islamic sensibilities...just "immigrants". Right. No wonder the conservatives are gaining ground..hope it's not too late. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2006-01-13 13:18 |