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.
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
CYBERSCAM: Anne, an interior decorator with mental health problems, spent a year and a half believing she was communicating with Brad Pitt and lost US$855,259 A French woman who revealed on TV how she had lost her life savings to scammers posing as Brad Pitt has faced a wave of online harassment and mockery, leading the interview to be withdrawn on Tuesday. The woman, named as Anne, told the Seven to Eight program on the TF1 channel how she had believed she was in a romantic relationship with the Hollywood star, leading her to divorce her husband and transfer 830,000 euros (US$855,259). The scammers used fake social media and WhatsApp accounts, as well as artificial intelligence image-creating technology to send Anne selfies and other messages
RSS