Last week’s scrambling by the federal government to quell the uproar from border-crossing and off-shore same-sex pairings appeared to quell something else: former Prime Minister Jean Chretien’s assertion that the ruling Conservatives are out   to kill same-sex marriage.

Back in December, Chretien wrote in a Liberal Party fundraising letter that the Harper government had already “ended gun control” and removed the nation’s signature on the international Kyoto climate change initiative. “Next may be a woman’s right to choose, or gay marriage. Then might come capital punishment. And one by one, the values we cherish as Canadians will be gone.”

With Justice Minister Rob Nicholson’s promise that “we will change the Civil Marriage Act so that any marriages performed in Canada that aren’t recognized in the couple’s home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada,” it seems almost certain Chretien can strike gay marriage off his supposed list of Tory targets.

In many Conservative ridings, though, same-sex marriage remains a hot-button issue. Members of riding associations from east to west would like to see Canada relinquish its role as a leader in recognizing gay rights.

But Harper believes otherwise, and uses a well-documented iron-willed Conservative Party enforcement system to keep the dissenters in line.

So, when it comes to Chretien’s list, you can scratch off anything to which Harper isn’t personally devoted. And, much as the neo-Christian wing of the party might hope to disagree, the right to choose and capital punishment probably aren’t on that list.

One thing to which Harper is definitely devoted, however – and it was demonstrated through his government’s swift reversal on Kyoto – is building Alberta’s oil sands.

Some Conservative MPs might warn of sacrifices on the road to full-scale oil sands development: sacrifices of environment stewardship or of supply managed farm products offered up as bargaining chips in trade deals. But if Harper is devoted to the cause, as he certainly seems to be, those arguments could fall on deaf ears.