The weather here has been as dreary as I'm sure the mood must be in US Republican war rooms. But just as I can be optimistic that the weather will improve by next May, the Republicans can take heart that their poster boy, AH-nold, coasted to victory for the governorship of Cal-ee-FAWN-Yah.

Another intersting result is that a propostion to ban same-sex marriage in Arizona was defeated by the voters.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/1108AzGayMarriage08-ON.html

It was widely thought that the measure would pass easily in a state that is seen as solidly conservative; Arizona being a Republican stronghold in recent presidential elections save for a relapse in 1996 when the state went to Democrat Bill Clinton. But maybe the issue is not so clearly divided along conservative-liberal lines.

Same-sex marriage in Canada is permitted under federal law, the final bill having passed easily in June 2005 through legislation introduced by a minority Liberal government. It was not quite a "free" vote - House of Commons members were free to vote as they wanted except for the Prime Minister's cabinet, who were required to vote in favour of the bill. At least one cabinet minister resigned his position in order to vote against the measure. The Liberal government proceeded with a same-sex marriage law after the courts in many provinces and ultimately the Supreme Court ruled that a ban was contrary to the Charter of Rights and therefore unconstitutional. Taking the safe way out, the government asked the Supreme Court to rule whether a draft bill would pass the Charter litmus test.

Since January 2006 Canada has been governed by a minority of the Conservative party led by Prime Minister Stephen ("Steve" as christened by Dubya) Harper. His government has vowed to re-open the gay marriage issue, but has taken its sweet time going about it, given that it was his first pledge during the election campaign. During an interview on a Global TV program called Focus Ontario, Harper's Finance Minister Jim Flaherty supported the initiative to again debate the issue. When asked to articulate the reasons behind his view, all he said, repeatedly, was "what's wrong with a free vote?" Flaherty wouldn't reveal his true feelings - that gay marriage stuck in his craw and he would not rest until the measure was rescinded. I'm sure however that certain conservative politicos south of the border would have no trouble with such a stance.

As things stack up, even with an actual "free" vote in the House of Commons, a motion to re-open the issue is certain to fail. A handful of Conservatives support gay marriage, a number of Liberals are against, but the Bloc Québecois and NDP are almost unanimously in favour.

This issue, along with capital punishment (which was abolished in Canada in 1976), is over and done with. It's time to move on with the really important matters.