At the Salt Lake Tribune: “Arrested: Leaders of FLDS-linked Canadian polygamous sect.” According to the story, one of the men arrested is the leader of the FLDS community in Creston, British Columbia; the other leads a polygamous group in Creston that split off from the FLDS around 2003. Unlike the action last year against FLDS polygamists in Texas, this Canadian action does not involve children or the issue of underage marriage.

Will Canada’s anti-polygamy law hold up? That’s the question asked in a separate Salt Lake Tribune story, “Canadian polygamists’ future may rest on 1892 law.” According to the article, two previous prosecutors refused to file charges against BC polygamists because they felt the Canadian anti-polygamy law was in conflict with the religious freedom provisions of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, part of Canada’s constitution. It looks like a Canadian court will now have to decide whether the practice of polygamy is a “fundamental freedom” protected under the “freedom of conscience and religion” clause of the Charter or not.

For more details and a timeline, see “Canada Prosecuting Polygamy, Protecting Gay Marriage,” at the Messenger and Advocate blog.