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Back in 2005, the colourful New Brunswick Conservative Elsie Wayne spoke out on same-sex marriage.

“There is not any need for this nonsense whatsoever and we should not have to tolerate it in Canada,” she railed. “Why do gays have to be out there in public, always debating that they want to call it marriage? Why are they dressed up as women on floats?”

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Her party leader, Stephen Harper, was less belligerent but equally adamant, arguing in the House of Commons that marriage between a man and a woman was a “foundational institution – a cornerstone of society.”

This view corresponded with the view of the majority of Canadians, who believed either gay marriage should not be lawful or it should not have the same weight as traditional marriage.

There were fears minority groups would follow the lead of same-sex marriage advocates and take their cases to the courts, shaping the nation’s identity in their own image.