Why would any self-respecting Canadian social conservative contemplate voting for Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party federal government?

Picture this. When the Canadian House of Commons defeated tentative moves to repeal Canada’s federal same-sex marriage legislation, Harper said that was it, and that there would be no more initiatives of that kind. More recently, he caused massive histrionics amongst anti-abortion fanatics when he sternly stated that abortion was off the agenda permanently as well. It was decriminalised twenty years ago, and that’s it, as far as he’s concerned. He will also stop any Tory anti-abortionists from introducing attacks on women’s reproductive freedom.

Last week, the federal Tories also announced that they would be dropping Bill C-10’s contentious film funding tax credit veto causes, which are a pet issue of one Christian Right organisation, the Canada Family Action Coalition. Harper probably realised that threatening employment within Canada’s film and television industries wasn’t particularly wise in the face of a growing international economic crisis.

However, REAL Women of Canada, that nation’s antifeminist group, has come up with some other issues to shore up social conservative interest in the Tories. They think Canadian social conservatives should vote for the Tories because of their supportive stance on mandatory youth sentencing severity, drug prohibitionist opposition to cannabis decriminalisation and safe injecting sites, family taxation, opposition to national child care, opposition to sex industry law reform, and denial of legal assistance to equality cases under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Now, all of this is a far cry from the usual Christian Right obsessions about abortion, homosexuality and censorship policy, although there is some mention of anti-euthanasia policies as a reason for voting Tory as well. In fact, apart from its opposition to childcare and sex industry law reform, there isn’t much direct engagement with feminists or LGBT rights groups anymore, either.

Is this our future, after LGBT reform and abortion decriminalisation have happened here? Will social conservatives shrug their collective shoulders and obsess about other issues? And will Canadians let them? There’s already a furore about Mountie bribery and payment for a drug prohibitionist lobby group head to attack Vancouver’s safe injection facility, Insite, which has landed the Tories in more hot water.

Recommended:

Canada Family Action Coalition: http://www.familyaction.org

Real Women of Canada: http://www.realwomenca.com