Harper keeps muzzling his followers.

Ottawa -- As the so-called "Brokeback Mounties" planned to "wed" June 30, 2006, the Prime Minister's Office issued a gag order to all Conservative MPs. The MPs have previously been silenced on the topics of the gun registry, David Emerson's defection from the Liberals, the Kyoto accord, abortion, and "same-sex marriage.

Although the Force includes many couples, RCMP constables Jason Tree and David Connors, of Yarmouth, N.S., scheduled the RCMP's first same-sex "marriage." "The RCMP's policy regarding married couples, regardless of gender, is that one spouse cannot hold a position of power over the other in the same detachment (Halifax Herald, May 18, 2006)." The pair has been reported to have much support among co-workers, and has received sympathetic remarks from Liberal and NDP MPs without the necessary counterbalance from Conservatives.

The Conservative caucus has been instructed not to comment either way. According to the Canadian Press, "Ian Brodie, Harper's chief of staff, has warned cabinet ministers that if they stray off message they face an escalating scale of sanctions, ranging from public humiliation to removal from cabinet" (May 26, 2006). CTV.ca gave the story this headline: "PMO muzzles MPs on wedding of gay Mounties."

Val Meredith, former Reform MP, told Mike Duffy Live that the Prime Minister is trying to "control the messaging that's going out of the party so it can't be misrepresented. I think he's also trying to give the new cabinet members an opportunity to get comfortable with being the spokespersons for their areas of concern. There will be a time of reckoning; I think he will find that time will run out when the public will be kind and accept this kind of response. There are people who were nominated and elected to represent a certain point of view, and I think at some point they're going to get concerned if they're not able to speak on behalf of the people who ... got them into office."

Reverend Charles McVety of the Defend Marriage Coalition responded that, "freedom of speech ... is something that people fight for: this is a fundamental principle of our society (... and) democracy, and it must be upheld." Nevertheless, he found the PM's "most unfortunate" position something that he could "very much understand" in the context of a biased national media that distorts less-tolerated viewpoints (May 31, 2006).

Still, the Conservative silence allows the pro-death, anti-family MPs to dominate the airwaves and thereby encourages the media to continue attacking opponents of the permissive immorality as bigots and homophobes.