The rhetoric flew this week as Paul Martin said that maybe we should have an election to decide same-sex marriage legislation.

Stephen Harper seemed to agree. Let's give this election, if it ever happens, the name it deserves: "referendum".

But is the Charter, not the voting public, who ultimately decided. If we let people vote as to whether or not certain people would have certain rights, then women and people of color would still be excluded from voting.

Same sex marriage is here to stay and everyone should just get used to it.

If the government wants to have a referendum on rights, then why not have a referendum to decide whether or not marijuana should be regulated and taxed instead of prohibited. I'll bet the "prohibition" side would lose by a much wider margin than in the same sex issue referendum.

Russell Barth
Educators For Sensible Drug Policy
Ottawa