Nov 10
25
Polygamy laws unconstitutional, says lawyer
CBC News – November 25, 2010
Polygamy laws unconstitutional, says lawyer
James Keller, The Canadian Press
Canada’s ban on polygamy is an unconstitutional law rooted in religion that persecutes the rights of the very women and children the government claims to protect, a lawyer told court Wednesday. But his argument came on the heels of an opposing view from an advocacy group lawyer who said quashing the law and permitting multiple marriages would violate Canada’s international human rights obligations. The question of whether the ban on polygamy violates religious freedoms has been referred to a judge after British Columbia abandoned its prosecution of two religious leaders in Bountiful, B.C. The obscure, breakaway Mormon sect in southeastern B.C. is being used as a case study to determine whether polygamy is a protected religious practice or a crime.
The provincial and federal government each support the law.
The court has appointed veteran lawyer George Macintosh as an amicus to argue the other side. Macintosh said opponents of polygamy paint the wives in polygamous marriages as “brainwashed” women who would be desperate to leave if only given the option. He said that’s not true, and promised the court will hear from women living in Bountiful who are happy with their lives.
“Women in polygamous marriages actually want to enter into them and they’re fully capable of doing so, in the same way that many men and women enter into monogamous marriages,” said Macintosh.