Canada's Supreme Court said Thursday that same-sex marriages are allowed under the nation's Constitution, clearing the way for Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal Party to move forward with plans to introduce federal legislation to legalize marriage for gays and lesbians.
The top court's finding, which had been expected by legal experts, follows rulings by lower courts in seven Canadian jurisdictions that have said existing marriage laws discriminated against homosexuals.
The court was ruling on the legal question to help it advise the House of Commons before it considered legislation, approved by the federal Cabinet last year, to redefine marriage to include gay and lesbian couples.
In its finding issued Thursday, however, the court did not rule that same-sex marriage is required by the Constitution.
Courts in Saskatchewan, British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and the Yukon -- which account for 85 percent of Canada's population -- have already ruled that gays and lesbians have the same right to marriage as heterosexuals.
The government says it will introduce the legislation in the next couple of months and hopes to legalize same-sex marriage across Canada quickly.
The legislation is expected to be approved, although public opinion in Canada is split, and the Liberal Party caucus, which has a slim plurality in the House of Commons, is also split.
But the supporters of same sex marriage in the Liberal Party are expected to get enough support from three opposition parties to win the day.
Canada would join Belgium and the Netherlands in allowing gay marriage if the parliament acts to legalize it across the nation.
Efforts to tear down the legal impediments to gay marriage in Canada began less than two years ago. In June last year, the Ontario provincial high court ruled that the traditional definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman was discriminatory and unconstitutional. Courts in other provinces and territories followed suit.
In October, the Supreme Court heard arguments from opponents and supporters of a national law to allow gay marriages.
Speaking in opposition were representatives of the Roman Catholic Church, Islamic groups and the provincial government of Alberta, who argued that changing the legal definition of marriage to include gay and lesbian couples would threaten one of the foundation blocks of society and lead to unforeseen consequences.
Those speaking in favor of same-sex marriage noted that that more than 5,000 gay and lesbian marriages had already taken place in Canada, and said that the larger society had suffered no damage.
"Despite the predictions of disaster, there has been no harmful impact on opposite-sex marriage," argued Douglas Elliott, a lawyer for the Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, a church with many gay members.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese