Reopening the gay marriage debate

The Commons will debate whether to review gay marriage legislation next week. Good. Harper can say he kept his promise, the Commons can vote for the status quo, and we can move on to more important matters.

I imagine that Harper does not want this issue fresh in people's minds in case there's a spring election. The prospect of a majority government reopening the issue would hurt the Conservatives (and indeed the social conservatives have been suggesting that Harper postpone a vote until after the next election, after asking for it to be reopened). And I don't think Harper really cares about this issue one way or the other. This way, he gets to keep his word, Canada gets the proper result, and we all get to forget about this.

Incidentally, none of this would now be an issue if Paul Martin had allowed his cabinet a free vote on the issue in the first place. It's the proper thing that Parliamentarians be able to vote their conscience on this issue.