Guess who came to dinner in Ottawa at Parliament's own restaurant to meet with some MP's? Well, as Le Devoir reported yesterday, it was Frederick Dolan, head of Opus Dei in Canada - an ultraconservative and influential Catholic organization that's close to the Vatican and has offices in 61 countries.
MPs from all parties had been invited, it seems, but most of the 20 or so who showed up were Conservatives, with none from the NDP or the Bloc QuÈbÈcois. In an interview yesterday on Radio-Canada's Maisonneuve en direct, Dolan revealed that this was actually the third time in the last two years that such a meeting took place.
This report, added to Cardinal Marc Ouellet's widely publicized sorties against women's right to abortion, including in cases of rape, raises a question that's been increasingly asked in the media: "Does the religious right exercise undue influence over the federal government and its policies? "
It's not a case of the religious right exercising "influence" over the government. Rather, the real problem lies instead with the growing evidence that the religious right and the Harper government are more ideological and religious fellow travellers, and circumstantial allies. After all, friends are friends.
The Conservative Party's strong Reform Party and Canadian Alliance roots tell a good part of that story. As well, Le Devoir reported, Harper's chief-of-staff, assistant chief-of-staff, and policy director all have ultra-Catholic or evangelical backgrounds.
This government's cozying up to ultra-conservative lobbies, be they Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, or Evangelical, is well documented by the media. The Armageddon Factor by Marci McDonald documents the worrisome proximity of "Christian nationalists" and "pro-life" and "traditional-family" lobbies.
What most of these religious groups and lobbies - known as "theo-conservatives" - have in common is their opposition to women's right to abortion, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, sex education, contraception and, of course, strong governments which, in modern countries, tend to protect these human rights.
But the government's closeness to these lobbies isn't only religiously and ideologically driven. It's also about "wedge politics," where Harper tries to create controversies to comfort his own base and divide his opposition. Basically, it's about trying to strengthen the kind of voters who could one day, he hopes, give him his magic majority.
That also explains Harper's cozying up to ethnic communities with more religious and conservative visions. Former Harper campaign manager Tom Flanagan in a November 2008 article put it bluntly: "Ethnic voters don't rally to the fashionable causes of the left, such as gay marriage, carbon neutrality, and the 100-mile diet ... What they want is exactly what the Conservative Party has on offer - lower taxes, a favourable business climate, and safe streets."
And, of course, making sure everyone interested gets the message: Stick with Harper, join the party or at least, donate generously, and help him make your vision come true when he gets a majority.
This is where economic and fiscal ultraconservatism and its religious and social counterpart meet, sometimes separately, sometimes as one integrated vision. Just as long as Harper makes sure they can identify with his party.
And yet, with all these fancy strategies, overflowing party coffers and ardent reciprocal cozying-up with the religious right, Harper still waddles in minority territory. This says that the majority in this country rejects his vision.
But it also says that in Canada the rise of the religious right is no figment of the imagination. It now vocally challenges acquired rights such as same-sex marriage and a woman's right to abort, among others.
They have the freedom to express their views, but there's no mistaking that religion-based lobbies and the Harper government enable each other to consolidate their bases, recruit new members, and raise money.
Conservatives hope this translates into votes. Religious groups and lobbies hope it brings them added visibility and new supporters. That could help them exercise more influence than they have now in the general public and the political sphere outside the federal Conservative Party.
And this is not to be taken lightly by any means.