Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer goes on anti-gay marriage tirade in unearthed video

The Liberal Party is asking Andrew Scheer and his Conservative Party to end their apparent boycott of Pride events and prove that his views on gay marriage have evolved as an unearthed video from 2005 shows him opposing the Civil Marriage Act.

In the video, Scheer calls “homosexual unions” contradictory to the “inherent feature” of marriage, which he said was to procreate naturally.

“They may pledge to remain in a loving relationship for life,” Scheer said, then in his mid-twenties.

“They may have many of the collateral features of marriage, but they do not have its inherent feature, as they cannot commit to the natural procreation of children.”

Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale tweeted the 52-second video, in which Scheer also compared gay marriages to dogs’ tails.

“How many legs would a dog have if you counted the tail as a leg?” Scheer asks. “The answer is just four. Just because you call a tail is called a leg does not make it a leg.”

Goodale is calling on Conservative leader to “explain whether he would still deny same-sex couples the right to marry, as he said in Parliament.”

“Scheer has been an MP for 5,533 days, but hasn’t found a single day to celebrate Pride, and thus defend every Canadian’s human rights,” Goodale tweeted, urging Scheer to attend Ottawa’s Pride parade.

Scheer and the Conservatives were notably absent from parades in Montreal and Vancouver this summer, which were attended by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party leader Elizabeth May. Former Conservative leader and prime minster Stephen Harper was also notably absent from Pride celebrations during his decade in power.

Conservatives in 2005 voted against legalizing gay marriage.

“If this bill passes, governments and individual Canadians will be forced to call a tail a leg, nothing more,” Scheer said, continuing the dogs’ legs metaphor.

As news broke of the resurfaced video, Canadians took to social media to express concern over the Conservative leader’s comments, including his insistence that marriage is for procreation.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said this was a “desperation tactic” on the part of Trudeau’s Liberals.

Scheer has yet to comment on the video directly.