The Hill Times has two articles that, depending on which side of SSM you are on, will infuriate you or give you confidence.
First comes the report that the Conservatives will fight same-sex marriage law in the upcoming election.
...Conservative MP Vic Toews (Provencher, Man.), his party's high-profile justice critic and a former Manitoba justice minister, told The Hill Times that the Conservatives will definitely make it an election issue out on the hustings and said if the federal Conservatives win the next election they will attempt to repeal the law. "The Conservative government will bring forward an alternative; that's what political parties and governments do," Mr. Toews said in an interview last week with The Hill Times in regards to whether it's worth repealing the new law. "They offer alternatives and this is a commitment that we've made as an alternative to what the Liberals have forced on the Canadian people. I can't see how one can avoid it being an election issue. There's a very clear distinction between the Conservatives and all the other parties on that issue."
The Conservatives must be continuing this fight becuase they will feel it will help them in the next election. They are figuring that in their target ridings this could swing 3-4% of the vote their way and gain them seats. On the other hand it makes dozens of urban seats a write off. Arguably they already were but,
...in 2004, the scariness for these urban Canadians in cities such as Vancouver, Montreal, Toronto, London, Windsor, Ottawa, they found that the Conservatives were seen as having socially Conservative views that would've impacted on individual freedoms. Harper is seen as intolerant." One of these "freedoms," Mr. Marzolini said, is same-sex marriage. "Same-sex marriage is a voting issue to maybe one or two people out of every 100 voters. It doesn't have any more impact than that except on style issues." Mr. Marzolini said in order for the federal Conservatives to move ahead of the Liberals, they have to move on and talk policy instead of social values. "Even with people who disagree with same-sex marriage," he said. "It was like the abortion issue. Even people who don't like the abortion laws, they did not want Stockwell Day in 2000 or Stephen Harper last year raising the issue again. They're saying, 'Close it up. We had that fight 20 odd years ago. Let's not keep bringing up old stuff. We want issues and policies to do with quality of life and standard of living.'" Mr. Marzolini said the Conservatives need to move past the "tinkering issues" and start talking about concrete policies for their party rather than harping on the Liberals' misdeeds.
I know several Blogging Tories have serious doubts about the Conservatives strategy here and there is enough data to back them up on this. I am very curious to see what ultimately happens here. I still think it is too early to reach conclusions.
Cross-posted to The Shotgun
