InQueeries

July 28th, 2005

By Gilles Marchildon

Equal marriage battle:
finally over... or is it?

Equal marriage legislation Bill-38, introduced by Justice Minister Irwin Cotler on February 1, has finally passed the Senate and been signed into law.

It’s official. Canada is the fourth country in the world, after the Netherlands, Belgium and more recently, Spain, to give state sanction to same-sex civil marriages.

Of course, following court decisions in several Canadian jurisdictions, thousands of same-sex marriages have taken place in Canada since June, 2003. Courts in 9 Canadian jurisdictions had acknowledged that Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed equality and freedom from discrimination. By the time federal legislators voted on equal marriage, it was already a ‘fait accompli’ where about 90% of Canadians lived.

Nonetheless, there was celebration across the country upon hearing of the July 19 late-night 47-21 vote in the Senate. To be proclaimed law, the bill then needed Royal Assent. Since the Governor General was recovering from surgery, a Supreme Court judge filled in, as usual in such circumstances. The day after the Senate vote, Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin signed the bill into law.

A Justice’s signature is usual procedure but Manitoba Conservative MP Vic Toews took a pot shot at the bench. He called into question McLachlin’s role, suggesting that it placed her in a conflict because in the future, she may have to rule on the constitutionality of limiting marriage as being between a man and a woman.

Notwithstanding that Chief Justice McLachlin has already expressed her interpretation of the Charter of Rights during the federal government’s reference to the Court on the equal marriage legislation, signing the bill does not give any indication of her support for the legislation. She’s simply fulfilling her duties.

Alas, since Mr. Toews does not seem able to read and adhere to election spending laws, perhaps standard federal legislative procedure also escapes his grasp.

His objection may be a sign of things to come. Religiously-motivated opposition continues to be fuelled by misinformation and selective interpretation of both law and scripture.

Stephen Harper, leader of the federal Conservative Party, continues to actively stoke the fires of opposition. He proposes to undo equal marriage legislation if his party forms the government. Yet he declines to explain how. The only legal means available is to reverse Bill C-38 and then invoke the notwithstanding clause to stop same-sex marriages in the 8 provinces and 1 territory where a court decision allowed them.

The July 18 headline of The Globe and Mail suggests Harper is swimming against the current. A new poll done by The Globe with the CTV television network shows that 55% of Canadians do not want politicians tinkering with equal marriage legislation and only 39% would reverse it.

This must please Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin. The social consensus is growing around the issue. Martin and his Liberals can expect support from both those who approve the legislation as well as those who don’t want to undo it. Furthermore, Harper’s determined and misguided opposition will only contribute to ensuring the Conservatives’ electoral defeat.

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