marriage
How many legal wives does Winston Blackmore have?
<p>On wikipedia it says Winston's father only had one legal wife:</p>

<p><em>Anne Mae was the first of Ray's six wives, and the only wife he was legally married to.</em></p>

<p>Winston's father only had one "formal wife", the one on the marriage certificate. So I assume that Winston might also only have one legal wife and one legal marriage certificate? If he only has one legal wife, how could he be arrested for polygamy?</p>

<p>The law does not criminalize "having more than 1 legal spouse", it criminalizes specific behavior. The polygamy statute is <a href="https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/section-293.html" rel="noreferrer">here</a>. It says</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Every one who (a) practises or enters into or in any manner agrees or
  consents to practise or enter into (i) any form of polygamy, or (ii)
  any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time,
  whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage,
  or (b) celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract
  or consent that purports to sanction a relationship mentioned in
  subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii),  is guilty of an indictable offence and
  liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>That is, if you behave like you're married to multiple women, you've committed a crime.</p>
