This is a horrible little spot for the anti-gay marriage people in the UK. The first part is whining about FREE SPEECH and how it’s terrible that people can be discriminated against just for believing in “man-woman marriage” (hint: no one has a problem with “man-woman marriage”. The issue is that these people want to restrict the rights of people to practice other kinds of marriage.)
But it’s the last half that has me worried. They want to point to a failed state that is afflicted with the horror of allowing man-man and woman-woman marriage; a place where chaos has erupted, civil liberties are trampled, and the people live in terror of oppression by The Gays. And that place is…
Canada?
Have there been riots up North? Are the heterosexuals now enslaved? They’re just not telling us about it, right, because as everyone knows, The Gays dominate the media and they’ve clamped down on the word getting out. Canadians, you can tell me — just post your stories about the lesbians with whips and the gay men with cattle prods stalking your streets. I want to know.
You’re so close. It wouldn’t take much for jack-booted homosexuals to spill over the border and take over Minnesota, you know.
(via Joe. My. God.)
It’s being kept so quiet, apparently, that not even all the Canadian gays know about it. I must have missed that meeting. And I’ve gone and misplaced my copy of the agenda, again.
This is what you get when you let your colonies govern themselves. Marriage equality! Poutine! Ice hockey! Will the horrors nevet cease?
Yes. The Canadian word for riot is hockey.
The riot in Vancouver a couple of years ago wasn’t because the Canucks lost the Stanley Cup to the Boston Bruins – it was the beginning of the end of society in the Great White North.
The Homosexual Agenda has silenced the media in Canada. We fear for our marriages, for if a man were to step outside the sanctuary of his home, marauding bands of fabulous gay men are likely to capture him and drag him off to Harper government-mandated Sparkle Parties, turning even the most heterosexual, red-necked Albertan male into the worst TV-troped homosexual stereotype you can think of.
My wife and I have been in hiding for years now, forced to move every so often in order to keep one step ahead of those who wish to annul our marriage and force us into homosexual matrimony. We burned our wedding photos and keep our marriage license hidden in a safe in the basement. We’re never seen together in public, for there are prying eyes everywhere.
Wait, what’s that noise? It that… Geri Halliwell’s remake of “It’s Raining Men”? I hear fashionable shoes kicking in the door!
THEY’VE FOUND ME! I cannot escape! Tell my wife I love h
To be fair, a gay man DOES dominate the media in Canada, but that’s just because he’s fucking awesome.
Rick’s Rant
Yes, Canada has a problem:
http://freethoughtblogs.com/lousycanuck/2013/02/11/harper-government-gives-money-to-anti-gay-religious-group-working-in-uganda/
Sorels are not jackboots, but the point stands.
I work with at least one gay man and one married gay woman. It’s intolerable. Between the three of us, I sometimes don’t even get to unilaterally decide where we all go for lunch.
We’ve had legalized gay marriage since June 2005, I think? I can’t remember the exact time off the top of my head. Anyway, I remember there being a bit of a kerfuffle around the time it was first enacted, then it just became the norm and no one’s given a shit about it since — aside from some dumb angry white men, AKA the Conservative base, but really, who gives a fuck about them? They whine about everything.
As a heterosexual white male I can safely say the quality of my life has been more impacted by harmful conservative economic policies than by “teh gays.” Our country isn’t perfect, not by a long shot, but I’m proud that we’re still marginally progressive.
*looks outside* Hm, nope, don’t see any rioters. (Believe it or not, we do know what riots look like up here! More often over hockey games than civil liberties, but still…) Huh, no whips or cattle prods visible, either. (Although I suppose if there were, I wouldn’t really be free to tell you, so make of that what you will :P)
But come on: quoting a (unsubstantiated, I hasten to add) claim from Michael Coren as “evidence” that we’re doing it wrong? Really? Should have just pulled a quote from Rush Limbaugh, he’s more widely recogniz… oh wait, I guess the fact that Coren might not have the international recognition as a bigot that Limbaugh does means the problems with using him as an ‘authority’ on civil rights aren’t quite as blatant to their audience. Clever. Wrong, but clever.
Of course: it’s not beer o’clock yet.
Yes, Canada does have a problem.
That terrible Celine Dion/Anne Murray song they play in the Canada portion of Epcot. Please replace with a Sloan song, thanks.
I’m tempted to post a snark reply about the horrors Canajun heterosexuals are enduring under the thumb of gays, but that’s just too too easy, too obvious. And boring.
In point of fact, same sex marriage is a total non-issue in Canada. I’m certain that there are people horrified at the very idea, but it’s the law of the land and afaik there’s been no public outcry or revolt, even in Bible belts like Alberta, New Brunswick, and the Fraser Valley in BC.
Life goes on. Those opposed to same-sex marriage console themselves by not getting married to members of the same sex.
Blame Canada, shame on Canada?
I know that we don’t get much news on Canada down here in the South of the US, but I would imagine that someone would mention the collapse.
In fact, I know they would, in the context of “see what socialized medicine does!”
I blame the Winnipeg Jets.
@ Audley Z:
The list of the horrors of Canada is much longer. Some additions to your list:
butter tarts
toques
tortiere
seal flipper pie
cod cheeks
Nanaimo bars
Nanaimo itself [not kidding! “the city with no heart”]
snow removal equipment
winter clothing
snow
winter
ice
[the last three replaced in Victoria by snowdrops, aconites, and cyclamen in flower in February]
people who insist on saying “please” and “thank you”
a legal system that doesn’t allow contingency payment to lawyers
Oh, the horror of it all!
[I guess I have to let my snark off its leash once in a while]
So, anyone want to summarise her claims for me, so I don’t have to risk brain damage from listening to her?
I have no idea what butter tarts are, but they sound f’ing delicious.
Trufact: when my coworker and her same-sex partner applied for their marriage license here in Edmonton, the city clerk handed them a form and then immediately (and sincerely) apologised that it had “Husband” and “Wife” on it.
Hardly makes up for Klein sputtering that he was going to invoke the Notwithstanding Claus over same-sex marriage, but the times they seem to be a-changin’, albeit slowly.
See? The anti-equality people have a good point! The string of causation is obvious!
…right?
(…with apologies for stripping those quotes of any meaningful context ;) )
Butter tarts are, if memory serves, like little pecan pies without the pecans. I like ’em.
I played in a gay hockey tournament in Toronto in 2000 or thereabouts. There was a bit of a kerfuffle when the organizers tried to hoist a banner on which Labatts proudly sponsored the Toronto Gay Hockey Association. The manager of the arena told them could not put that banner up … after all, this was a Molson’s arena!
My impression was that the Canadians have their priorities in the right place.
A gay runs Ontario now. Worst part? It’s a lady gay! That’s like, in the top 5 for worst gender of gays.
We’re all doomed.
A sickenly sweet runny buttery sugary goo with raisins or other dried sweet fruit, poured into a sweet, buttery pastry shell.
F’ing delicious, indeed :)
Just to give you the heads up, marriage equality is one step closer in France, too, the law passed the first house of parliament. Conservatives tried to prevent it by proposing over 1000 changes…
It’s sad to see evangelical Christianity present in the U.K. But it’s also heartening to see that the bigots there have as empty a case as the ones in the U.S.
I mean, there was a lot of vague references and weasle-words in that video. The “Coalition for Marriage” don’t seem to have much self-confidence.
“Notwithstanding Claus”
Fuck, now I’m coining new titles for shitty Christmas movies.
Nevermind. Raisins.
no one has a problem with “man-woman marriage”.
I don’t know…to tell the truth, I’m not at all sure about it. It’s got some creepy origins if nothing else and there are certainly still places with really creepy laws on the books. Man-man or woman-woman marriage makes me feel a lot more comfortable with man-woman marriage, because it implies a state in which the marriage is a union of equals, not a transfer of property from a woman’s father to her husband.
See, Audley, teh geys really do ruin everything. You let them marry, each other, next thing you know they’re putting raisins in all your desserts…
They don’t has to has raisins.
Plus, you can sometimes get ’em in the day-olds section of Safeway for a loonie off.
Er… there’s an extraneous comma in that last comment…
It is a little embarrassing that every now and then someone like Sharon James actually gets heard outside the confines of the UK, thanks to this newfangled Internet thing, and lets everyone in on the secret that we, too, have our share of utter whackjobs. From the intro to an article she wrote for Themelios (a ‘peer-reviewed international evangelical theological journal that expounds on the historic Christian faith’), we learn that
In her article, she praises the work of Melanie Philips (known more affectionately as ‘Mad Mel’), which suffices to say everything that needs be said about Dr James.
Anyway, sorry about that.
Not always raisins. Some are actually like tiny pecan pies, complete with a couple of pecans on top, and some are just the sugary filling without any fructian contamination whatsoever.
I have no idea what butter tarts are, but they sound f’ing delicious.
Something to do with the butter, I suppose.
A little googling has me drooling:
Thank goodness. My faith in Canada has been restored. ‘Cos there is nothing nastier than dried fruit, unless we’re talking about cooked fruit. Dried and cooked fruit is beyond the pale.
No, no, no, come on people! They have to have raisins. Otherwise they’re not butter tarts. Simple. Once you start calling non-raisin “butter tarts”, you produce an extraordinary and lamentable litany of pain, firings, and social and political polarization and extremism. We’re seeing it happen! For goodness sake, learn something from Canada!
Well, I’ve been married to the same woman for almost thirty, and I have to say since they started recognizing same sex marriages here our relationship has seemed just a little more…fabulous…somehow.
RFW, you left Poutine off your list…
..thirty years, that is…
Psst… that’s cause Audley had it covered in their comment that RFW was replying to.
Of course, it’s so delish that it would have been worth mentioning twice ;)
To be fair, misquoting someone and removing the context of a quote is pretty much the primary argument of the bigots against gay marriage. So there’s nothing to be sorry about since it was a rather accurate way of characterizing their points.
The word points is used in the loosest possible sense.
Me too. I thought I was straight, but I’m getting strangely aroused.
Someone hold my place in the queue, will you?
Yeah, isn’t it great when your relationship doesn’t show a big fat middle finger to gay people?
A suggestion – if any of those making comments above will be at the Washington convention in May, and if it is wished, I can endeavor to provide samples of butter tarts (I should be able to find a mennonite somewhere). Warning – Diabetes alert! They come plain, with raisins, and with pecans or walnuts. The best butter tarts drip down your chin when you bite into them – to be eaten by persons with beards only in the presence of a sink. (Or a wet wipe).
Audley:
I beg to differ. Dried fruit is at least sweet, and while raisins may be mistaken for chocolate chips at a casual glance, there are visual differences. In my opinion, dried fruit may be disappointing but it isn’t vile.
I have encountered a substance that I feel is far worse. During adolescence, I remember coming home from school to find a package of what I took for chocolate chip cookies (Ooh! My favorite!) on the kitchen counter. I was surprised, considering that my mother was on a health food kick, but suspected nothing until I extracted one and happily took a bite.
My happiness quickly turned to bitter disappointment and disgust as I realized that those brown chips weren’t chocolate. I still shudder to name the horrid substance that so treacherously masquerades as deliciousness:
<whispers> Carob! </whispers>
I never trusted sweets from my mother again, but always read the package first.
Oh my. Who talked?
My wife and I have had a wonderful marriage and have managed to derail dozens, if not hundreds of straight marriages. Canadian straight marriages are burning to the ground. We’re a sneaky bunch and we’re going to politely invade the rest of the world and ruin ALL straight marriages. So neener, neener, neener.
See p.136, Homosexual Agenda, 4th printing.
Janice in Toronto (coming to your town soon!)
oo! oo! can they all dress up like lumberjacks and mounties or maybe like sexy-lumberjack and sexy-mountie Halloween costumes?! eh?!
Riots? There were a couple of cats raising a ruckus on the neighbors’ fence last night.
I just got the latest flyer from Princess Auto. It lists Bi-Metal hacksaw blades, Male Plugs, Female Plugs, Male Bodies, Female Bodies, Nozzle Shield Spray, Quick Coupler Sets, Ratchet Tie-Downs, Grease Fittings and a Hitch Receiver. And “Nitrofoam Kneepads”! So equipment for just about any perversion you might care to name. I hadn’t realized how wicked it had become.
Eeeewwww! Then there was (maybe still is) Ted Byfield with this dire warnings about the Anglican church collapsing due to the influence of the gay. I swear the SUN chain must spend a fortune on photo editing to deal with the Picture of Dorian Gray effect for their columnists. But maybe they got someone to write some mouth-foam removal macros for them.
I knew it! As soon as I heard Canada was putting the beaver on their coins, I knew the whole country was a cesspool of sin and corruption. Won’t somebody think of the children?
Here I always thought the term “butter tart” was something that drifted up from south of the border – much like a corpse drifts up from the bottom of a lake. Or like the obscenity of putting strawberries and rhubarb in the same pie. Strawberry pie OR rhubarb pie, none of this cross-species mixing.
Raisin tarts should be made with good pie crust pastry, butter, eggs, and a little sugar – the latter three just sufficient to glue large quantities of raisins together. I have never seen a decent raisin tart for sale in any commercial establishment.
Steve Buffery and Michael Coren , the two ‘journalist’ mentioned in the video, are a couple of Sun Spews O’Reilly whannabes.
@Audrey #2:
On behalf of the UK I utterly apologise. If only we hadn’t given in to the demands of these people all those years ago (1868? 1922?). Right now they’d be as dependant on the House of Lords* for passing an entirely sensible equality bill* as us Real Citizens are.
* Irony sick-bag optional
K.D. Lang is being inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Even the music industry in Canada is being attacked by this insidious threat. Next, Justin Bieber will be coming out and inducted as the youngest ever inductee. What kind of message will that be sending the impressionable youth of Canada. I long for the days of BTO. Simpler times for simpler folk.
@timguegen #16:
Damn, I hate blockquote fails! Me and the preview function have never been good friends.
@eveningchaos 52:
Bieber? Makes me think that Rush lyrics made sense*.
* OK, maybe not in general. I’ll go listen to and interpret ‘The Trees’ in light of human compassion now.
Damn it. I’m never going to be able to read the Princess Auto flyer in quite the same way ever again.
That’s not a bad thing.
But the annual ceremonial riots were delayed by half a season this year!
Conspiracy!
Butter tarts(members of treacle tart family) soft caramel toffee in pastry.
1/4c melted butter do not use margarine ever.
1c sugar(white, golden, brown, demerara, maple they all work)
1-2tbsp lemon juice depending on strength.
2 eggs
shot of booze optional
Whisk the syrup together till smooth. Using unsweetened pastry shells fill 2/3 plain syrup or with either raisins, currants, diced apple, walnuts, or pecans, with just enough syrup to barely cover. If you over fill the sugar will boil over all over the oven and burn. Bake 350F oven for about 20min or till pastry is golden and let cool. Serve with a dollop of fresh whipping cream on them. The most popular combo in this house is to use demerara with some maple and a shot of good scotch on walnuts.
Dang, spent too much time in Dah YooPee. Know what a loonie is.
Don’t you know? Once you let the gays marry you leave yourself wide open for zombie attack! And now that some of the states are allowing same sex marriage it is only a matter of time before we have zombies attacking our boarders.
I’m asked around once a month if I miss anything about Canada, a hazard of sounding ‘foreign’ whist working retail. Nope, not really says I. I could do with some cooler weather and of course I miss some of my old friends but that’s about it. Damn you all for reminding me about butter tarts! May Cuthulu eat you all last.
Now, if only Australia would defy it’s usual decade behind North America thing and legalise same-sex marriage today I’d be very happy. Not allowing everyone the societal benefits of legal marriage cheapens my marriage. It makes me and Ms. Fishy unwilling representatives of discrimination and I hate that.
Here in green British Columbia I often encounter some gays (men and women) walking their dogs. It’s horrible! My dog sometimes comes home after such an encounter and humps his toy moose. What’s really disturbing is that before they were chewed off, the moose had antlers, male antlers. And he got the moose AFTER the Canadian Supreme Court proclaimed same sex marriage as constitutional. We (I’m married to someone of the opposite sex, forgive me) got the dog 2 days before the Dec. 9, 2004 decision. The dog obviously felt that this gave him license. Apart from his gay tendencies I suspect that he is also dyslexic, keeps referring to himself as goD. Just because we sacrifice milk bones to placate him, sheesh.
Just another day in West Des Moines these days. Yup.
Oh dear, the USA and Ye Olde Country have (re)discovered us. The gays are why the Toronto Make Beliefs haven’t won the Stanley Cup since Confederation in 1867. Oops, make that 1967.
The Princess Auto catalog is for mature adults only.
Amazing how she uses her free speech right to claim she is losing her free speech right.
*facepalm*
The full quote from Steve Buffery:
Do we want to live in a society where, if you don’t believe in something like same-sex marriage because of your faith, you have to be silent for fear of being ridiculed en masse, or for fear of losing your job?
Her version:
Do we want to live in a society where, if you don’t believe in something like same-sex marriage… you have to be silent… ?
The Canadian gay mafia is out to gag you cag!
Be careful!
I drink freshly spilled blood from the skulls of straight people and piss out their souls. Those who do not appease me are sacrifices as I destroy their marriage with one fell stroke of my Vorpal Gay Agenda +5.
Oh wait, wrong reality.
Butter tarts. Here is the recipe from the Purity Cookbook, published by Maple Leaf Mills, manufacturers of Purity Flour. (Date uncertain, probably 1960s or 1970s) This is about as authentic as you can get.
Preheat oven to 375F.
Prepare sufficient pastry and roll out on floured surface. Cut with floured cookie cutter and line 12 medium sized muffin cups. Do not prick.
Pour sufficient boiling water to cover over ½ cup raisins. [Golden raisins seem to be near standard,] Let stand until plump, then drain. Arrange in tart shells.
Mix together ¼ cup butter and ½ cup lightly packed brown sugar. Stir in 1 cup corn syrup, 2 eggs slightly beaten, ¼ tsp salt, and 1 tsp vanilla extract. Combine until just blended. Spoon mixture into unbaked tart shells filling each about ⅔ full.
Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes. Do not allow filling to bubble over. Makes 12 tarts.
The 1952 edition of the same cookbooks suggests using currants, dates, figs, or nuts instead of raisins, and includes 2 eggs in the filling.
As for the complaint that I left out poutine: I know I did, but being a merciful sort, here’s poutine: POUTINE POUTINE POUTINE POUTINE POUTINE
What does…William Shatner…has to…say about this?
We Ontarians just got our first openly gay premier. There wasn’t an election, the former premier stepped down. One can only imagine the destruction that is to come now that they’ve seized the levers of government in Canada’s most populous province! Erm, except I don’t see the any buildings coming down around me here so maybe it’s one of those slow boil things…
Actually, it was quite refreshing that the political race the ruling party had genuinely seemed to be about issues. I don’t recall much talk about the premier’s sexuality until after she was selected. Almost like her sexuality wasn’t a factor affecting her ability to govern.
There are less tolerant Canadians though and sadly some of them get public funding…
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/02/12/pol-cida-baird-condemns-anti-gay-sentiments.html
Not unless gay marriage caused the Canucks to lose in the finals
As much as Melanie Phillips is a terrible, terrible person, I cannot help but feel that this was some excellent trolling.
Once the votes came in overwhelmingly in favour of the SSM bill, there were a lot of comments on various news articles that can be summarised thusly:
“I was going to propose to my girlfriend later this year, but now I think I won’t bother because the institution of marriage has become worthless.”
Although these were happily drowned among the many, many comments that basically went “nyeh! we won!”
Why do you people hate raisins so much? ):
Vaiyt:
Think about it: Raisins are just old grapes.
Fuck, we have gay marriage here in Canada? Never noticed.
And then I read this one: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/02/13/pol-cida-uganda-funding-christian-group.html
Am I really going to have to side with Baird, the Tory, and go against Bob Rae of the Liberal Party? Fine. Baird’s public statements are pretty much exactly right, and Rae’s defense of the org that made these comments is frankly quite despicable given the circumstances. Bob, you don’t have to oppose something just because the Tories support it. It is possible for them to be on the right side of things once and a while.
Was just in Canada last Christmas visiting family and friends. What did I miss?
If she’s picking out Canada as some failed state of marriage equality, that just shows how weak her argument is.
Not surprised that Michael Coren is chirping against marriage equality though. Typical Rightwinger.
[Quick Google] – 61% of Britons support full same-sex marriage.
“The majority of people are against it!”
Majority…? You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means…
@ Darkheart
Think about it: cheese is just old milk.
etc.
Can I also point out that Canada has also had the gays in the military since 1993? It’s almost as if, in Canada, they’re acting like the gays are just like the rest of us or something like that.
vaiyt, I think Audley has been over-influenced by Joon of Benny and fame.
Audley, what do you have to say about grape juice with yeast pee in it?
“There’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” – Pierre Trudeau on decriminalization of ‘homosexual acts’ performed in private, 1967
It seems history was on his side.
So why isn’t my comment posting? Was I banned by PZ? Or will it eventually show up twice because I assumed a glitch and posted again.What gives?
Yer damn right there’s a problem with Canada. They banned one of my favourite songs because some idiot thought it wasn’t appropriate to have an imaginary redneck bigot use the word “faggot”, like no real redneck bigot would ever use such a word.
There was brief protest against the ban, but it quickly died down, no doubt intimidated into silence by squads of cattle prod wielding screamers wearing studded jock straps and classic air gunner cold weather masks.
Canada, I weep for thee. A once great country has been made stupid by political correctness. (sarcasm, except banning the song really was stupid)
Third time lucky on this, I’m hoping. I’m trying again without the links, in case that gets comments filtered out as spam. If you want to see those masks, you’ll have to Google them yourself. The song is “Money for Nothing” by Dire Straights.
Funny how darwinharmless immediately assumes he has been banned.
Also, I happen to love the song Rock And Roll Nigger” by Patti Smith. But I sure as shit am not going to complain that it does not get played on the radio just because the word nigger is in it.
If you like the song that much, get your own copy.
Also, I happen to love the song Rock And Roll Nxxxxx” by Patti Smith. But I sure as shit am not going to complain that it does not get played on the radio just because the word nxxxxx is in it.
If you like the song that much, get your own copy.
(This message did not get through. PZ must have banned me. Oh. Wait. It was something else. Slips through the spam filter.)
darwinharmless, there are some anti-spam rules in place that can throw some posts into moderation if they look suspicious. They will appear eventually if approved, but it can take a bit of time.
Don’t whine about being banned, or how you’re about to be banned, though. Self-martyrdom doesn’t garner much sympathy around here.
Hiliarious!
These folks probably aren’t worth the effort, but if anyone knows of a fact check on this I’d be interested to read it.
I’m planning to move to Canada but honestly, learning about gay marriage there makes me rethink that.
The last thing I need is a bunch of queers ruining my Godly straight marriage by parading in front of me, with their fit bodies and fashionable clothes, with their firm thighs and cute butts forcing me to imagine them at home in their bedrooms, with those naked bodies pressed together and…
I mean, I’m straight! Perfectly straight! Straight as an arrow! And mad at the idea that some so-called “man” with a cute face might invite me to a wild party with a few of his friends where I’d beckon them to a back room and…
No! I mean they’d beckon me and I’d…
NO! No parties! No beckoning! Marriage is a sacred bond between
two menthree mena man and a woman, and as such my undying love belongs solely toJohn BarrowmanMY WIFE. Whatever her name is.It’s horrible. These poor people who made the video are so silenced that they can’t even have the comments enabled for their videos.
Canadians probably made them do that.
So we should expect at any moment for a roving gang of TV Trope Gays to barge in and redecorate the place ?
What a nasty euphemism they’ve found for their bigotry: “believing in man-woman marriage”.
Janine: Hallucinating Liar Sorry, I guess my sense of humour is either too subtle, to obtuse, or too left brain for you to catch a joke. You obviously didn’t read PZ’s recent post about being accused of banning people at the drop of a disagreement, and his defense agaisnt that accusation. I should know better than to be funnin’ with this crowd. So quick to assume the worst about somebody and fire up the flame thrower. I shall try, in future, to be “impeccable in my word” and not say things I don’t actually mean.
ck please don’t assume that I was whining. I was joking. (see my response to Janine: Hallucinating Liar) And thanks for the information. It’s what I suspected was happening.
Aw man, I watched the video. Why did I do that?
On behalf of my country and all of it’s non-bigoted inhabitants, I would like to apologise for allowing this idiot to export her stupidity via the internet. We’z very very sozzy :(
@Darwinharmless
Aw that is a shame, Money for Nothin’ is a great song. Apprently it was written about Motley Crue; the lyric with the F word referrs to their lead singer.
http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp05162004.shtml
/Seemed appropriate for the discussion. Mildly NSFW.
As I recall, there were a half-dozen or so cases where a marriage commissioner resigned or was fired due to their unwillingness to officiate at same-sex marriages. There has also been the occasional law suit when a banquet hall refuses to rent their venue to a gay or lesbian couple. In total, maybe a couple dozen incidents in the eight years since equal marriage came into effect, and they’re getting rarer as time passes. So she isn’t entirely wrong, but she is grossly exaggerating.
Of course, none of that has anything to do with freedom of speech. Marriage commissioners and venue managers are free to hold and express any foolish opinions they like. They just can’t discriminate while on the job.
And regarding the apparent real topic of the thread: Raisins in butter tarts, yes. Raisins on poutine, no.
I’m sorry but I started reading the comments short a cup of coffee or two and misread butter tart as butter fart. Now it’s stuck and I can’t read it any other way which makes some of the recipes posted really funny to my sometimes juvenile brain and puts #49 in a completely new light:
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Audley Z. Darkheart (liar and scoundrel) (#74):
Nah. Grapes are premature raisins.
My thanks for the butter tart recipes. I’d been thinking about trying to hunt down such a recipe but have been procrastinating.
Personally I wouldn’t buy any from a grocery store — pastry does not seem good but there are a few excellent bakeries around that produce fantastic ones. I know of three within a 10 minute walk of home.
Oops time to go, I’m suddenly hungry.
OH yea we have problems in Canada, lots of problems!
First we can start with our prime minister who is an evangelical Christian and who just gave billions to this exact cause. Very little people know about this. He also kyboshed science reporting on the oil sands and most lakes and rivers.
The abortion “discussion” has been mentioned more than once during his term. Forget the fact that women have had the right to abortion since the ’60s.
Should I even start taking about the way our government and large corporations treat First Nations and their land (what’s left of it)?
We lost our Security Council seat under this Harper rule and unsigned the Kyoto accord!
And he’s so against Unions that he’s been able to legislate workers back to work even before they even think about going on strike.
Canada is going the opposite direction it should be going. Harper himself said: “When I’m done with Canada, you won’t recognise it.”
I’m starting to be embarrassed to be Canadian… not that anyone cares, most people don’t pay attention to us.
Canadians, blink twice if your free speech is oppressed and you can’t talk right now.
blink blink
I work for the feds I’m not acctually supposed to talk about any of this, but this isn”t my real name.
Dire Straights…no, they’re Dire Straits. (amazing how many people confuse the two).
I’ve been in Canada since 2004, citizen since 2010. Not perfect but I love universal medical care, butter tarts, and B.C. bud. I also make a mean tortiere (savoury pork & mushroom pie).
Don’t like Stevie Harper but I love Rick Mercer — a national treasure.
Try wild boar tourtière. To die for! It’s like bacon pie.
Must comment on this. Daughter visiting me from Canada and claims not to be aware of riots, etc. She might just be comforting me, as she will be going back.
As for butter tarts, well, since my grandmother died, the best butter tarts in the world are made regularly in the Court of Appeal building, Toronto. (Also known as Osgoode Hall.) If you go to Toronto, tour the building. It’s awesome, then have lunch in the Great Hall. You get fabulous butter tarts there.
Don’t worry. Canadians only riot for extremely worthy causes, like the home team losing a hockey game, or the home team winning a hockey game.
@17, 20, and 58,
Let’s get this very straight: Butter tarts are made with all-butter SHORT CRUST pastry, not PIE PASTRY. They are completely unlike little pecan pies without the pecans, because pecan pie is typically made with pie dough (using shortening or lard) and corn syrup. While butter tarts may be made with maple syrup, the ideal butter tart is NOT made with corn syrup (the filling should be soft but not runny), and using pre-made frozen tart shells (which are pie dough) is absolute heresy. You can make butter tarts without raisins but, as Canadians, we reserve the right to point and laugh at you.
We’ve had equal marriage in Canada for almost ten years (it started up in 2003). So far I’ve not heard of any straight couples having marriage licenses, employer and government benefits, or housing denied to them simply for being opposite-sex partners.
And yes, Michael Coren in a born-again Christian nut-job, and he moves his mouth in a really creepy way when he talks.
Yeah, the only people that might have issues with gay marriage are Conservative backbenchers. The PM has said it’s a dead issue…and most Canadiand couldn’t give a crap either way whether you are gay, Christian, Atheist, polka dot or whatever as long as you do your thing and pay your taxes.
Over here in Ottawa the closest thing we’ve had to a riot would be when the local hockey team had a deep run in 2007 and some aboriginal protests. It’s deader than a doornail here most of the time.
Cheers!