Thanks Chuck

Same-sex marriage is old hat in Canada; it is a settled issue that nobody wants to revisit. However, the process was difficult; federal recognition hinged on parliamentary approval, and the waning Liberal minority government was divided and slipping fast. Although there were enough supporters for the bill to pass, the surging Conservative party forced a confidence vote in May 2005 just before the final vote for the Civil Marriage Act, and an election would have meant starting the process over. It was unlikely that the Liberals could win another minority government (they later did not), and the Conservatives certainly wouldn't have reintroduced the bill. By the slimmest margin, the government did not fall, and the bill passed the house on 28 June 2005. (It easily passed in the Liberal-dominated Senate and passed into law with royal assent on 20 July 2005.)

Chuck Cadman was one of the few independent members of the house of commons who were assiduously courted in the run-up to the confidence vote. It was a time of high drama and political skulduggery; rather borderline dealmaking abounded, and in the end the true wildcard was Chuck Cadman. Terminally ill with cancer, Cadman stood to vote (at right) to support the government, and he died fifty-two days later.

Recently it has come to light that the Conservatives had gone a step further in their dealmaking leading up to the vote: party operatives offered Cadman a million-dollar life insurance policy (among other incentives). He refused; although he was understandably concerned for the future welfare of his wife and daughter. Current Prime Minister Stephen Harper not only knew about the offer, he approved it and spoke about it on tape to a journalist who has recently published a book on the subject.

So this is a posthumous thank you to Mr. Cadman. He spent some of the last days of his life away from home in order to bring about full equality for a group of people which, by all accounts, he didn't have any special affection for; he respected the wishes of his constituents, rejected a bribe for personal gain, and helped the government stand long enough for the bill to pass. He did his job, and sometimes that is downright heroic.