Canadians want traditional family: study

Ottawa, Canada, Dec 9, 2004 / 22:00 pm

After a Supreme Court judgment yesterday, the Canadian Liberal government is intent on legalizing same-sex marriage. This, despite the fact that most Canadians would want to live in traditional families, a new study reveals.

In a 2003 national survey by University of Lethbridge sociologist Reginald Bibby, 58 percent of the 2,093 adults questioned said they consider the "ideal" family arrangement to be a married man and woman, with at least one child, the Globe and Mail reported.

Many unmarried couples, both heterosexual and homosexual, with or without children also share that conviction, reported Today’s Family News. Teens had the same view of marriage and families, with 90 percent saying they plan to get married, have children, and stay with the same partner for life.

Of those polled, 53 percent were currently part of a traditional family and nine percent were married to a person of the opposite sex but have no children.

"What Canadians want is a traditional marriage," Bibby told the Ottawa Citizen. "But they're not getting it." The study revealed that only half of all men and women could expect to marry before they turn 50, and more marriages are failing. But for all that, marriage and family continue, as the Citizen stated, "to be of paramount importance to Canadians, and our hopes and dreams are traditional."