Compas Poll / Survey

A Liberal-Conservative Public Remains Divided

In the history of democracy, values issues can be divisive. They are frequently more divisive than distributional issues. This is partly because values issues can emerge from deeply held convictions and partly because conflicts over values are sometimes “zero-sum” or win all vs. lose all kinds of battles. The issue of legalization of same-sex marriage in Canada may be one of these sources of simmering, long-term division.

Despite the recent court decisions and a proposed federal law granting recognition for same-sex marriage, a small majority of the public adheres to the definition of marriage as exclusively heterosexual, as shown in table 1. Asked whether they support or oppose keeping the pre-existing definition, 63% say that they favour doing so while 31% oppose doing so.

Respondents were asked how they would feel about Parliament’s use of the notwithstanding clause to over-ride court decisions in favour of same-sex marriage. As shown in table 2, those who favour over-riding the courts outnumber those who oppose doing so but they fall short of a majority—48% scoring 6-10 on a 10 point scale measure of support for the over-ride vs. 28% scoring 0-4 on the same scale.

As will be explored below, many people on both sides of the issues are in no mood for compromise and feel strongly on the issue. But, taken as a whole, the public is inclined to a compromise whereby the the term “marriage” would be reserved for heterosexual couples while special recognition would be granted to homosexual couples. As shown in table 3, slightly less than a third of the public takes a hard-line in defence of the traditional or conservative viewpoint while an equal number takes a hard-line in defence of the socially liberal advocacy of same-sex marriage. A larger group in the middle favours defining marriage as heterosexual while constructing a new category of union between individuals that would encompass same-sex partnerships.