Oh Canada! Polygamy in the News

Polygamy in Canada is very much in the news nowadays. The Salt Lake City Tribune sent reporter Brooke Adams to spend an afternoon with Winston Blackmore's polygamous family in Bountiful, B.C. You can read more about it at Bountiful Summer-- An afternoon with the children of polygamists.


The article links to Trent Nelson's photoshoot of Blackmore's children. You can see one of the photos on the right. Here, Maraya Blackmore covers her ears as Sally Blackmore tunes her electric guitar. For more of Nelson's photos, see his album Children of Polygamy: The Winston Blackmore Clan

Three of Blackmore's wives are facing deportation. They've been told to leave with or without their children, a truly terrible choice for a wife and mother to have to make.

On another front, Ottawa's Kathleen Harris of the Toronto Sun reports that multiple-wife marriages have been legally recognized in Canada to award spousal support and inheritance payments. From her article 'Limited' Polygamy --

While the former Liberal government maintained that polygamy is criminal in Canada, documents released to Sun Media through access to information show that polygamous marriages have been recognized "for limited purposes" to enforce financial obligations of husbands with multiple wives.

The censored documents, which include departmental background papers and ministerial briefing notes, outlined the last Liberal government's position on the controversial subject, which erupted during debates on gay marriage. ...

Diane Watts, a spokesman for Real Women, a Christian-based group that is lobbying MPs, warned the government will have few grounds to defend its anti-polygamy law if it faces a constitutional challenge on religious grounds. ...

A polygamous community has been operating in B.C., for years, but authorities have been reluctant to lay criminal charges because it could trigger a charter challenge.

Back in the United States, the Senate today rejected a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, leaving the door open for both gay marriage and polygamy. A small but important victory for us!