The Canadian government signaled its acceptance of gay marriages on Tuesday, deciding not to appeal a landmark Ontario provincial court decision that opened the door to such unions.
"Not to appeal means that we recognize the definition as it's been developed by the courts," Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said after the federal cabinet made its decision.
The government plans to draft legislation to legalize same-sex unions and ask the Supreme Court to rule on its constitutionality before allowing members of Parliament to hold a free vote on the bill, he said.
In the meantime, Canada will be governed by a patchwork of provincial regulations.
Gay marriages in Ontario, where a court set aside the heterosexual definition of marriage last week, will be valid.
They will become legal next year in British Columbia, where another court gave Ottawa until 2004 to recognize them.
But the heterosexual definition of marriage will stand in the rest of the country until the federal legislation passes or until other provincial courts also strike down the definition of marriage as the union of a man and a woman.
The official opposition Canadian Alliance party slammed the government's decision as a "complete abdication of responsibility" in giving in to the court.
"The Canadian Alliance believes that we do not allow unelected judges to make social policy decisions for us," Member of Parliament Vic Toews told a news conference.
Gay legislator Svend Robinson of the minority New Democratic Party, however, commended Prime Minister Jean Chretien for the Cabinet verdict.
"I think the prime minister has taken a courageous stand," he said.
By not immediately seeking a stay of last week's Ontario court decision, the government had already effectively allowed gay marriages to go ahead, and activists say hundreds of them have already taken place.
The court wrote its own definition of marriage as "the voluntary union for life of two persons to the exclusion of all others."
Chretien said the legislation would protect the right of churches and religious groups "to sanctify marriage as they define it" -- in other words, they would not be forced to perform gay marriages.
But Toews said he took no comfort from any assurances of religious rights, since the courts have tended to give precedence to gay rights.
Some confusion persisted after Tuesday's Cabinet decision on whether the government's legislation would enshrine gay marriages or just gay unions.
Chretien said the Canadian legislation would legally recognize "the union of same-sex couples." Cauchon said it was too early to say how the bill would be framed, but he said the federal government had the constitutional right to define marriage, and it recognized the courts' definition.
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