Apparently, new immigrants are to be restricted to one spouse regardless of how many they had in The Olde Country. It seems that some men immigrating from the Middle East and Africa (and what religion? Or would that be an impolitic question?) try to bring with them their many wives and offspring, in defiance of Canada's downright old fashioned commitment to marriage being between an adult, unrelated man and woman. But in what other situation is that the case? This seems to be the one situation left in which the government is willing to stick to its guns on what a marriage is and is not. Perhaps immigrants would have better luck if they claimed to be two-spirited and asked to import both a wife and a male life companion. While nobody on this blog wants to define marriage in new terms, it seems quixotic to insist that a small group of people honour conventional definitions of marriage while insisting that those lucky enough to be born here can create as many permutations of the institution as their imaginations can allow, and then enjoy every conceivable social, financial and legal benefit of marriage. Most immigrants will probably just seek to stay under the radar and settle in here, fast, rather than challenge this ruling; this is unfortunate, as reductio ad absurdem seems the only path left to illustrate for most Canadians how truly loopy some recent rulings have been.
Posted by Clio at June 9, 2003 06:44 PM