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Monogamous Canadian Citizenship, Constructing Foreignness and the Limits of Harm Discourse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 October 2016

Megan Gaucher
Megan Gaucher*
Affiliation:
Carleton University
*
Department of Law and Legal Studies, Rm C473 Loeb Building, Carleton University, 1125 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa K1S 5B6, email: megan.gaucher@carleton.ca
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Abstract

The Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices Act (2015) targets immigrants suspected of engaging in polygamy. While polygamy is already illegal in Canada and non-immigrant polygamous arrangements exist within Canadian borders, the framing of polygamy as a foreign practice portrays this familial arrangement as a threat to Canadian national values. Effects on women and children have traditionally provided a convincing argument for state regulation of polygamy; however, the combination of state under—and over—enforcement suggests that relying solely on a harm framework inadequately captures the complexities of state treatment. In this paper, I argue that the state's primary motivations for defending monogamy are not necessarily rooted in the avoidance of harm but in the preservation of a particular type of citizenship.

Résumé

La Loi sur la tolérance zéro face aux pratiques culturelles barbares (2015) cible les immigrants soupçonnés de pratiquer la polygamie. Alors que la polygamie constitue déjà une pratique illégale au Canada et que des arrangements polygames visant des non-immigrants existent à l'intérieur des frontières canadiennes, l'encadrement de la polygamie en tant que pratique étrangère dépeint cet arrangement familial comme une menace aux valeurs nationales canadiennes. Les effets sur les femmes et les enfants ont fourni un argument convaincant en faveur d'une réglementation de la polygamie par l’État ; toutefois, la combinaison d'une application de la loi, « insuffisante » d'une part et « excessive » de l'autre, suggère que le fait de miser uniquement sur un argument de préjudice cerne de façon insuffisante les complexités du traitement de l’État. Dans cet article, j'avance que les motivations premières de l’État pour la défense de la monogamie n'ont pas nécessairement pour fondement d’éviter tout préjudice, mais la préservation d'un type particulier de citoyenneté.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Political Science/Revue canadienne de science politique , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , September 2016 , pp. 519 - 538
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Political Science Association (l'Association canadienne de science politique) and/et la Société québécoise de science politique 2016 

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