Put nothing past Stephen Harper. If he can marginalize you, he will. If you disagree with his limited view, you are not merely someone with whom he respectfully disagrees; you are to be destroyed.
Harper has been under pressure from the religious, homophobic freaks in his party to get on with their agenda and schedule a vote on same-sex marriage. Never mind that the majority of the country doesn't want to deal with it - again. Even the saner members of his own party would rather avoid the issue altogether.
None of that however, prevented Harper from announcing that there will be a free-vote in Parliament this autumn.
In fact, this is Harper playing to the wingnut fringe of the Conservative Party. If he really wanted to have a free-vote on the subject, he would hold it now. By announcing that a vote would be held in the autumn he is responding to the demands of religious right who wanted a vote delayed long enough to mount an intensive campaign and to lobby, threaten or otherwise secure the votes of MPs.
Groups who are calling for an immediate vote are being dismissed without reason.
But the truth is, there is no reason for a vote. We've already had one. This is nothing more than proof that the religious right commands a priviledged position in the Conservative Party and that we can expect their homophobic, anti-abortion, bigoted perspective to be advanced at any opportunity.
As Laura has pointed out, this could be the undoing of Harper's government. It places him in no-win situation.
It is also an attempt to marginalize a particular group which has done nothing to deserve it. It also places Harper among the most odious of leaders the Canadian government has had in the past.
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