Stephen Harper

Stephen Harper: As leader of the opposition Stephen Harper was initially reluctant to rule out using the so-called notwithstanding clause of the Constitution to keep same-sex marriage off the books, according to The Star. When he relented in 2005 Harper did not so much renounce the option as argue in the face of a mountain of contrary legal evidence that he could restrict access to marriage to heterosexual couples without using the notwithstanding clause to shelter his law from the courts and MONTR AL Throughout the 2004 federal campaign he declined to say whether he as prime minister would ask Parliament to override the constitutional right of same-sex couples to marriage equality. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.