The Canadian Globe and Mail:
The Harper government has served notice that thousands of same-sex couples who flocked to Canada from abroad since 2004 to get married are not legally wed.
... speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. “We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue,” Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail’s report.
The reversal of federal policy is revealed in a document filed in a Toronto test case launched recently by a lesbian couple seeking a divorce. Wed in Toronto in 2005, the couple have been told they cannot divorce because they were never really married – a Department of Justice lawyer says their marriage is not legal in Canada since they could not have lawfully wed in Florida or England, where the two partners reside.
... Same-sex marriage was effectively legalized by the courts in 2004. A year later, the Liberal government of then-prime-minister Paul Martin passed a bill enshrining it in law. More than 5,000 of the approximately 15,000 same-sex marriages that have taken place since then involved couples from the United States or other countries.
In a response to Ms. McCarthy’s court application, federal lawyer Sean Gaudet tied the federal position to two central propositions. First, he said, couples who came to Canada to be married must live in the country for at least a year before they can obtain a divorce. Second, same-sex marriages are legal in Canada only if they are also legal in the home country or state of the couple.
“In this case, neither party had the legal capacity to marry a person of the same sex under the laws of their respective domiciles – Florida and the United Kingdom,” Mr. Gaudet stated. “As a result, their marriage is not legally valid under Canadian law.”
9 Comments
Stephen Harper doesn't support Same-sex marriage, I think he's biding his time till he can gain a few more seats then repeal it.
Harper will have to be able to make some court appointments before a repeal law can stick.The "Charter of Rights and Freedoms" is a real Pandora's Box,and the Canadian Constitution is designed to be virtually unamendable (ALL provinces have to agree).
@Louis E.
Yes, but if they really cared, Harper and his party could restore marriage right now by invoking parliamentary supremacy via the "notwithstanding clause".
well that didn't last long: "Justice Minister declares all same-sex marriages legal and valid"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/justice-minister-declares-all-same-sex-marriages-legal-and-valid/article2301691/
1/13/12 - "The federal justice minister says the government will change the law to ensure gay couples from abroad who marry in Canada will have their unions recognized here.
Rob Nicholson says it's the government's view that these marriages "should be valid.""
Sounds like Canada needs a new Justice Minister.
"Sounds like Canada needs a new Justice Minister"
He is a member of the most conservative federal party. (the Conservative Party of Canada). There are not too many other options. Besides, the reality is that a large majority of Canadians support same-sex marriage.
Joe,then that majority need to change their minds.And the Conservative party their policies.
@ Joe....
If that being the case they should continue to allow rights to have marriage apply for animals, siblings and god knows what else.
A lot of people in Canada are now wanting to homeschool their kids because of this indoctrination... I swear North Korea and Khmer Rouge Cambodia are making their influence known.
Canada should repeal this awful mockery of marriage and do something worthy like actually become independent, instead of being a united empire loyalist america.
I'll only ever visit when they finally repeal this thing, finally they look to do that in Spain and hopefully portugal.