MPs vote against
revisiting gay marriage issue
From Canada.com on
the Web, December 7, 2006
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Prime
Minister Stephen Harper votes in the House of Commons.
(CP
PHOTO/Tom Hanson) |
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OTTAWA -- The House of Commons
has voted against revisiting the same-sex marriage issue, closing the door on
the divisive debate -- again.
MPs voted 175-123 on Thursday against a Conservative motion calling for the
government to introduce legislation restoring the traditional definition of
marriage. Most Tories and about a dozen Liberals supported the motion,
which would have protected existing gay marriages.
Most Liberals, a dozen Conservatives and all NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs present
opposed it.
It's the second time the House has voted in favour of gay marriage.
In 2005, MPs passed a law legalizing same-sex unions.
The Liberal government of the day was forced to examine its legislation starting
in 2003, when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that barring same-sex couples
from marriage was unconstitutional.
Gays and lesbians began marrying in the province, and soon other jurisdictions
faced similar rulings and began issuing licences.
Thousands of gay Canadians, as well as foreign visitors, have been married in
the last three years.
The previous Liberal government took the further step of consulting the Supreme
Court on whether its own legislation would infringe upon freedom of religion.
The court responded that the Charter would protect churches from having to
officiate such marriages.
Still, the Conservative government has been studying the possibility of
introducing a bill that would explicitly state that churches and other religious
institutions would not be required to solemnize gay marriages.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper promised during the last election campaign that he
would allow a free vote in the Commons on whether to reopen the same-sex
marriage law.
Before Thursday's vote, a clutch of Ottawa-area students gathered at the foot of
the Peace Tower waving placards and chanting slogans in favour of gay marriage.
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