Canadians don't need what you call conservative values.
What's the difference between a Canadian SS marriage and a US civil union ? The US has had them longer than Canada has. There is no difference
With no law , the Canadian abortion rate is declining and is now 14 /1000 women , close to the European of 12/1000 , while in the US , where there are restrictions , the rate is at 20/1000 . World wide it’s 29/1000.
As for free speech in Canada ,
Supreme Court upholds right to offend with free speech Rob Breakenridge, For The Calgary Herald Published: Tuesday, July 01, 2008
The court's rousing defence of freedom of expression was a delightful breath of fresh air after months of the smog of speech suppression. Justice Ian Binnie wrote that: "We live in a free country, where people have as much right to express outrageous and ridiculous opinions as moderate ones."
Canada has SSM nationwide, sanctioned by the federal government. Of course, the excuse was that the courts made them do it. SSM and civil unions are not uniformly in place statewide in the US. The US at least bans certain late term abortions. Canada does not. Free speech?? Ever heard of Stephen Boisson? A $5000 fine and a lifetime ban on preaching against or condemning homosexuality doesn't sound free to me. In PEI, a Bed and breakfast operation forced to close its doors for refusing to cater to same sex couples. A church fined for dismissing its female minister. Multiple people hauled before HRTs for non-threatening speech that offended the sensibilities of some. Bill C-250, which became law. Radio stations banned from carrying certain messages from James Dobson and Dr Laura. Need I go on?
At least in the parts of the States and New Zealand, the leftists call it Civil Union instead of formal Marriage.
That’s a great difference.
A number of Canadians, and New Zealanders as well, aren’t necessarily leftists but rather contratarians. A recurring reason Canada keeps Queen Elizabeth II as the head of state is that “The country south of US is a republic, if we want to differentiate from it, we must be a monarchy!”
The Canadian Liberals will want to pray Obamaism fails spectacularly if they want themselves returned to power soon. If Obamaism becomes entrenched south of the 49th, expect Canada to morph back to pre-Trudeau-era conservatism. Mark Steyn and David Warren will become nationally celebrated figures and the CBC will once again pump out programmes like “Our treasured military heritage”, and we will see Stephen Harper warning Putin Canada has strategic weapons that could be deployed against Russian invasions.
In fact I have seen evidences at my workplace this is already happening, here in New Zealand, on a smaller scale. A colleague is a typical Kiwi a straight-shooting forward guy. He always said something like “Bloody Yanks are full of s*** with warmongering Bush!”. After Obama’s victory he is not praising the US voters “Well done you Yanks. You have finally come around” like what Helen Clark hopes, but instead a sombre worrying line “The Yanks will be too pacifist and that’s a bit of a worry for us in NZ...”