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CANADIANS SUPPORT FAMILY LIFE

The media in Canada continually trumpet a liberal left-wing agenda. "Diversity", to the media, includes only those thoughts and practices that are deemed politically correct. Political correctness means absolute conformity to left-wing orthodoxy.

According to veteran journalist, Douglas Fisher (Toronto Sun, June 26, 2002), Canada's media shifted its mind to the left of most Canadians during the early Trudeau era, and since then, has exhibited a "pack" mentality on nearly all issues, including such controversial ones as abortion, homosexuality, immigration, capital punishment, etc. Further, the media have been a willing servant to the highly specialized public relations campaign by homosexual activists. [See "Selling Homosexuality to the Public", p. 9.]

The left-wing assumptions of the media are presented to the public as perceived "truths" beyond dispute and discussion. This has led to countless Canadians wondering what has gone wrong with the world, and also wondering whether they are the only ones whose views are so out of sync with those of the media on family issues.

It seems that many Canadians still do think differently from the media on several important issues and are not in agreement with the media's glib assumptions. For example, the issue of prime concern to most Canadians is the importance of the family in Canadian society. However, it is troubling that the media seem to be gaining ground on some other high profile issues with the younger generation (under 40s). This should be a matter of concern to all of us.

Focus on the Family Poll

Between March 25 and April 11, 2002, Focus on the Family Canada, together with The Strategic Counsel, an independent market research company with offices in Toronto, Ottawa and New York, questioned 1500 Canadians across the country on a wide range of family issues. The results were gratifying in that they indicated that Canadians generally have their feet firmly planted on the ground, in regard to family importance.

What the Survey Found

• Canadians believe that family is their priority. When asked to identify what is important to them, 79% ranked "maintaining a good, strong marriage", and 68% ranked being a good parent as their priority. Having a job that gives personal fulfillment and happiness received only 23% support, and making a lot of money only 5% support as a priority.
  
• According to the survey, 73% disagreed with the statement that marriage is an outdated institution.
  
• The survey found that the most important issue facing Canadian families was financial stress. In regard to finances, 73% of parents with children at home agreed that the current tax system makes it more difficult for families to choose to have one parent stay at home with young children.
  
• An even larger majority (82% overall) agreed with the statement that, "Governments should change the tax law in Canada to make it easier for parents with young children to afford to have one parent to stay at home if they choose."
  
• The survey also found that 64% of respondents agreed with the opinion that families who choose to have one parent stay at home to look after the children should be treated the same as families in which both parents work and pay for child-care, and that "the income tax laws are unfair and should be changed."
  
• 71% agreed that "the best child-care is a parent who does not work and stays home to raise the children." That is, Canadians believe that parental child-care is the best child-care.
  
• 76% of the respondents stated that they would prefer to have a parent stay home with the children if finances and other circumstances made it possible.

In short, it appears that finances are the key road-block that parents face in staying at home with their children. The most common reason for these parents to not stay at home is that they need to work or cannot afford not to work.

Common-Law Couples

Since so many respondents supported the importance of marriage, it was surprising to find, according to this survey, that "living together" outside of marriage is becoming much more acceptable. (46% of respondents agreed with this arrangement, with 38% disagreeing.) It is perhaps significant that agreement is strongest among those under 40 years of age (63%), and those respondents living in Quebec (56%) and the Atlantic provinces (54%).

This liberal attitude to common-law arrangements is borne out by data released by Statistics Canada, on July 11, 2002, which indicate that there has been a 20% increase since 1995 of couples cohabiting outside of marriage. According to these statistics, 1.2 million couples now live common law, in contrast to 6.4 million couples who are legally married. Yet most young couples still regard a legal marriage as their goal. According to Stats Can, 73% of men and 78% of women are expected to marry sooner or later - but not yet!

According to Stats Can, when couples cohabit, chances of a successful long-lasting marriage are substantially reduced, compared to married couples who never lived common law. Stats Can estimates that 60% of couples who previously cohabited will subsequently separate - double that (30%) of couples who did not live together prior to marriage.

The interesting question arising, is why do so many young Canadians think it is all right to cohabit outside of marriage? One can only speculate; but certainly one of the main reasons is the sexual permissiveness of our age. Many perceive sexual satisfaction as their "right" or as an entitlement not to be denied. Similarly, many young people believe that they are entitled to do what they like, when they like, without restrictions, i.e. they're anti-establishment and they resent being told what to do or how to behave. Therefore, they reject the binding commitment and responsibility required to persevere in a marriage. In short, they do not want to be tied down and want an easy "out" should the living arrangements get tough. Also, US researchers Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe, who run the US National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, stated in their report released June 27, 2002 entitled, "Why Men Won't Commit: Exploring Young Men's Attitudes about Sex, Dating and Marriage":

Primarily young men are enjoying a sexually active single life - often with a live-in girlfriend - and "are in no hurry" to marry. …

… young men are often wary of marriage because of worries that they will marry the wrong person, be forced to make too many compromises or take on too many burdens as a husband, or suffer huge losses if the marriage ends in divorce. …

What young men aren't worried about is a personal, biological deadline to have children. …

Men see marriage as the final step in a prolonged process of growing up, with children coming along in due time. This isn't true for young women, but young men don't have much sympathy for women's fertility problems. As one man put it, 'That's their issue. …

The biological deadline, however, is a definite problem for young women living common law.

Attitudes Toward Same-Sex Marriage

The homosexual lobby loudly proclaim that the majority of Canadians are in support of same-sex marriages. In fact, this was one of the arguments advanced in the courts in its same-sex marriage challenges in BC, Ontario and Quebec. Homosexual activists claimed 65% of Canadians support them in this regard. But according to the Focus on the Family survey, this issue is not clear cut among Canadians. In fact, it appears that there is almost an even split on the issue of legalizing homosexual marriages. Just under 46% of Canadians interviewed for this study believe that homosexual couples should be allowed to become legally married, while 44% believed that legal marriage should not be extended to include homosexual couples.

Again, younger respondents were significantly more likely to think that homosexuals should marry. (60% of those under the age of 40 supported this, as did 60% of residents of Quebec.) For the rest of Canada, only 42% believed that homosexuals should be allowed to marry.

A slight majority of Canadians (55%) agreed that "homosexual couples should be entitled to the same tax, pension and other benefits as heterosexual couples." As with the question of homosexual marriage, people under 40 years of age were significantly more likely than those over 40 to agree with this statement, as were 65% of Quebec residents. 51% of the residents in other areas of Canada supported extending benefits to homosexual same-sex couples.

Divorce

57% agreed that "it is simply too easy for couples with children to get divorced". A minority, however, (45%) agreed that "divorce, while unfortunate, is not harmful for the kids as long as they know their parents love them."

However, 76% overall expressed support for a government initiative for "mandatory marriage counselling for couples with children when the couple is considering divorce."

These statistics, taken together, seem to indicate that Canadians think in general terms that divorce might be an option for couples in a rocky marriage, but they are concerned about the effect divorce has on children.

There is a surprise here too, however, in that the younger the respondent, the more likely he or she was to disagree with divorce as a solution to family problems. (Perhaps younger respondents have had too much painful experience with divorce!) 39% of those over 40 disagreed that divorce is the best solution for couples who can't work out their marriage problems, while 43% of those between 18 and 24 years disagreed.

Spanking of Children

When asked whether parents should have the option of spanking children as a means of discipline, 72% believed that spanking should remain a legal option for Canadian parents, including 52% of parents who reported that "they never" spanked their children.

It appears, therefore, that despite the high-profile campaigns for a change in the spanking law and the equally high-profile court challenges on this issue, Canadians are consistent and overwhelming in their support of spanking as a means of discipline.

The Media's Influence

The results of the Focus on the Family Survey indicate that the media's constant message has not held complete sway in moulding the views of Canadians. Despite constant propaganda from the media, Canadians still seem to regard marriage and family life as a priority in their lives. However, there is no question that the media are making some inroads with those under 40 years of age. TV programs that treat pre-marital sex casually, as only "fun", without consequences or responsibility, and homosexual relations as normal and just another life-style choice, are dangerous in that they are desensitizing the younger generations so that they are no longer able to discern the influences that will tear the fabric of Canadian society.

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