The Taylor test might sound like a clear standard until one considers that extremism, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Merely 41 years ago, sodomy was a Criminal Code offence and gay marriage would have been viewed as “extreme” by almost everyone. Today, gay marriage is legal, and the idea of criminalizing sodomy would be viewed as “extreme” by most Canadians. A court’s determination of what is “extreme” is bound to be arbitrary and subjective.
PLUS: new development re: “Lemire” here.
