Activists say Ottawa
will delay vote
to reopen same-sex
marriage
GLORIA GALLOWAY,
theglobeandmail.com from the Web, September 28, 2006
OTTAWA -- Activists on both
sides of the same-sex marriage debate say the Conservative government has
delayed a vote to reopen the controversial issue -- a move that could help those
who oppose extending the marriage definition to include homosexual couples.
Laurie Aaron, a spokesman for Canadians for Equal Marriage, which supports
same-sex marriage, said yesterday that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has told
the caucus that the vote has been put off until the end of the fall sitting of
Parliament.
"I had meetings with five different Conservative caucus members last week and
they all told me the same thing," Mr. Aaron said. "It was supposed to
happen just before Thanksgiving and now it has been put off until just before
Christmas."
The government would not confirm the decision.
It is widely believed that a motion to revisit the matter of gay and lesbian
marriage would fail if it were held today; many MPs who voted against same-sex
marriage say they don't want to revisit the matter.
Mr. Harper promised on the first day of the federal election campaign that he
would ask Parliament if there is a will to reopen the divisive matter. He
later said the vote will take place this fall -- and some people who follow the
issue closely had expected it as early as this week.
Mr. Harper has been promising to hold the vote for almost a year, Mr. Aaron
said. "It's time to get on with it. This issue has been hanging over
our heads like a dark cloud and it's unfair to allow the uncertainty to
continue."
Mr. Aaron said he doesn't believe the delay will ultimately work against his
group. "MPs are going to listen to Canadians," he said.
But the people working to restore the traditional definition of marriage are
glad for the extra time.
Charles McVety, president of the Canada Family Action Coalition, said he, too,
has heard that the vote has been delayed.
"I first heard they were going to have a snap vote -- introduce it this week and
then have a snap vote," Dr. McVety said yesterday.
"I had said that would be seen as abandoning marriage. And it appears as
though the vote is going to be delayed and it is going to be held late in the
session. I am hearing that it will be before Christmas."
Dr. McVety said his group and the others that oppose same-sex marriage believe
there was a lack of information and due process leading up to the 2005 vote that
extended the definition of the institution to include gays and lesbians.
If given some extra time, he said, opponents can call their MPs and the MPs can
make "an informed decision."
Next week, for instance, the opponents of same-sex marriage will introduce a
national marriage caucus, made up of politicians as well as community religious
and business leaders, to explain to MPs why the matter should be reopened, Dr.
McVety said.
But Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale said the position of his caucus is
unlikely to change.
"It would appear entirely that the Conservatives are playing around with these
dates, whether to call a snap vote or to leave it for a protracted period of
time, purely for their own political convenience," Mr. Goodale said, "and that
kind of stunt-playing when serious issues are involved and human rights are at
stake is pretty bad behaviour."
He said he received no answers from the government when he asked last week about
the timing and the process of the same-sex vote. He indicated some concern
that the Conservatives could surprise the Commons with the controversial motion
at a time when the opposition benches are less than full.
Dr. McVety said he didn't believe the government would resort to trickery.
"I don't think they will pull a stunt like that," he said. "This is an
important issue."
|
