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Canada Close To Approving Gay Marriage Confidential Gov't Report Suggests
by Ben Thompson
365Gay.com Newscenter
Ottawa Bureau
May 3, 2003
5:14 a.m. ET/+5GMT/-3PT
(Ottawa) A confidential report distributed to members of the ruling Liberals suggests the government is leaning towards giving gays and lesbians the right to marry.
The report, on government letterhead and marked confidential, was distributed to party members on a Parliamentary committee examining gay marriage.
A copy of the document was obtained by the opposition Bloc Quebecois and made available to the media.
The Standing Committee on Justice was asked by federal justice minister Martin Cauchon to look at three options for recognizing gay families. One would be to create a national domestic partner registry, another would see the federal government end its right to define marriage leaving it up to the provinces and churches, and the third would be to grant full marriage rights.
The committee held hearings across the country and is expected to present its report later this month.
The Liberal party document was issued Friday after the British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled that banning gays and lesbians from marrying is unconstitutional. (story)
The confidential report says that a national registry to recognize same-sex unions would be impossible to apply in Canada and would settle nothing. Provincial registry's have been created in Quebec and Nova Scotia, but couples who sign it do not have their partnerships recognized in other provinces.
"Should the federal government follow Quebec's example and set up a civil registry?" the document asks. "No. The creation of such a registry wouldn't settle the basic problems of equality and justice, which are at the heart of the matter."
The document also says that to create a registry the federal and all 10 provincial governments and 3 territories would have to agree to it. Under existing law the federal government is responsible for setting the standards of marriage while the provinces and territories register marriages and administer family law.
"Given the jurisdiction of provinces and territories in the matter, some would argue that the creation of such a registry does not fall within the jurisdiction of the federal government."
The document does not mention the other two options: Getting out of the marriage business altogether or granting full marriage rights.
If the government turned marriage over to the provinces and churches, any church that wanted to do so would be able to perform legal gay marriages. The Metropolitan Community Churches, the United Church of Canada, Unitarians and Reformed Judaism have all said they would perform the rites if they had the legal power. In addition, Quebec and Ontario, the country's two largest provinces have stated they would legalize gay marriages if they could.
While not a blanket endorsement of marriage, it would be a major step towards equality, say some Liberal insiders who oppose gay marriage but would have supported a domestic partner registry.
However, constitutional lawyers say the government is not likely to give up any of its powers. Further they point to the confidential document's own phrase " equality and justice, which are at the heart of the matter," and say that would seem to imply that the government believes the only way to guarantee equality and justice would be to grant full marriage rights.
In addition to the BC Court of Appeal ruling, Divisional Courts in Ontario and Quebec have ruled that denying gays and lesbians the right to marry is unconstitutional. Those two rulings have been appealed (story).
The marriage issue has dogged the Liberals for several years. Despite its healthy majority in the House of Commons, party backbenchers are mostly opposed to giving gays the right to marry, while most members of the cabinet appear to support the idea.
None of the candidates for the party leadership is opposed to gay marriage, although frontrunner Paul Martin has said he would prefer the courts give Parliament a clear direction to pass legislation. Martin said prior to the release of the party report that he favored civil unions. (story).
The party will select a successor to Prime Minister Chretien in November and sources in the Martin camp privately say the former finance minister wants the issue resolved before he takes over from Chretien as Prime Minister.
Liberal party strategists also would like to see it resolved quickly. There is growing concern about the party's strongholds in Toronto and Montreal. The two largest cities control a huge block of seats, held mainly by Liberals. Some of those seats could fall to the New Democrats. The new leader of the NDP, former Toronto city councilor Jack Layton is popular in the two urban areas which feel they have been under funded by the government. Additionally polls in both cities show overwhelming support for gay marriage.
Thursday, after the BC court decision Layton spoke out in favor of gay marriage.
Layton said he doesn't think people who want to get married, "no matter their sex, should have to go to court to get permission."
He said Canadians "shouldn't have to add judicial fees to the cost of getting hitched."
Later this month justice minister Cauchon will travel to Europe to see how Holland's gay marriage law is working. The Netherlands and Belgium are the only countries in the world to legalize gay marriage. Cauchon will also look at domestic partnership registries in Germany and France.
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