Canadian House of Commons approves same-sex marriage
{{date|June 28, 2005}}
[[Image:Flag of Canada.svg|right|thumb|200px|Flag of [[Canada]]]]
In a 158 to 133 vote of the {{w|Canadian House of Commons|House of Commons}} held Tuesday night, Canadian MPs have approved the legalization of {{w|Same-sex marriage|same-sex weddings}} in [[Canada]].  Assuming the {{w|Canadian Senate|Senate}} passes {{w|Bill C-38|Bill C-38}} and the {{w|Governor General of Canada|Governor General}} gives {{w|Royal Assent|royal assent}}, Canada will become the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex weddings after the [[Netherlands]], [[Belgium]], and [[Spain]].  The bill presented to the House of Commons by the {{w|Liberal Party of Canada|Liberal government}} of Prime Minister [[Paul Martin]] has passed mainly because of support by the left-wing {{w|New Democratic Party}} of [[Jack Layton]] and the support of the separatist {{w|Bloc Québécois}}, which enabled it to overcome the staunch opposition of the {{w|Conservative Party of Canada|Conservative Party}}.
<div style="clear: right"></div> 
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse;" align="right" |
|+ Votes in House of Commons on Bill C-38
!Group
!For
!Against
!Absentees
!Total
|-
!Liberal cabinet
|36
|0
|1
|37
|-
!Liberal backbench
|59
|32
|3
|95
|-
!Conservatives
|3
|93
|2
|98
|-
!Bloc Québécois
|43
|5
|6
|54
|-
!NDP
|17
|1
|1
|19
|-
!Independents
|0
|2
|2
|4
|-
!Totals
|158
|133
|16
|307
|}
While this vote is historic, gay weddings had already been legalized by the Supreme Courts of most Canadian provinces.  The C-38 bill now extends these rulings to the rest of Canada, namely to the provinces of [[Alberta|Alberta]], [[Prince Edward Island]], and the territory of [[Nunavut]] and the [[Northwest Territories]].

The adoption of this bill ends a longstanding political and judicial debate in Canada, with the House of Commons referring the issue to the {{w|Supreme Court of Canada}} last year, only to have it handed back to them by the judges. If the debate has just been closed in a political sense, gay rights continue to create tensions between Canadians, since support for gay weddings comes mainly from [[Quebec]] and [[Ontario]] and parts of [[British Columbia]] while the {{w|Maritime|Maritimes}} and {{w|Canadian prairies|Prairie}} provinces are mostly against them.

Those tensions have also been felt in the House of Commons itself, when Conservative Party leader [[Stephen Harper]] said on Monday, anticipating that the C-38 bill would be adopted, that the vote would "lack in legitimacy" since the bill would pass because of an unnatural alliance between the federalist Liberals and the separatist Bloc Québécois.  This partisan view of gay rights has been strongly condemned, especially by Bloc Québécois leader {{w|Gilles Duceppe}} who said that MPs from his party were democratically elected and as legitimate as any in parliament.  Others called Harper a hypocrite, pouncing on the fact that he never raised any such objections allying with the Bloc in the previous month's confidence votes.  Prior to the vote, {{w|Joe Comuzzi}} announced his resignation from the Liberal cabinet because of his opposition to gay weddings and the fact that Liberal cabinet members were required to vote the party line in this case.

== Related news ==

*[[Canadian PM vows to push ahead with same-sex marriage bill]]
*[[Court legalizes same-sex marriage in New Brunswick]]

== Sources ==

* {{source|title=Canada becomes third country to legalise gay marriage
|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1414850,00050001.htm
|author=Associated Press
|pub=Hindustan Times
|date=June 29, 2005}}
*{{source|title=Canada Lawmakers OK Gay Marriage Bill
|url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5105761,00.html
|author=Beth Duff-Brown
|pub=The Guardian
|date=Wednesday, June 29, 2005}}
*{{source|url=http://www.canada.com/national/story.html?id=e0905a7a-c1c9-47ad-8e1e-f35ccd7b6a6f
|pub=Canadian Press
|author=Alexander Panetta
|date=June 28, 2005
|title=Canada approves same-sex marriage}}

{{publish}}
{{archive}}
{{PD-Article}}
[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:LGBT]]
[[Category:Paul Martin]]
[[Category:Stephen Harper]]
[[Category:Jack Layton]]
[[Category:North America]]
[[Category:Canadian Parliament]]
[[Category:Canadian House of Commons]]
[[Category:Same-sex marriage]]
[[Category:Liberal Party of Canada]]
[[Category:Conservative Party of Canada]]

[[es:Canadá aprueba matrimonios de personas del mismo sexo]]
[[pt:Partido Liberal consegue aprovar sua lei sobre casamento homossexual no Canadá]]
Flag of Canada
In a 158 to 133 vote of the House of Commons held Tuesday night, Canadian MPs have approved the legalization of same-sex weddings in Canada.  Assuming the Senate passes Bill C-38 and the Governor General gives royal assent, Canada will become the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex weddings after the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain.  The bill presented to the House of Commons by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin has passed mainly because of support by the left-wing Bloc Québécois, which enabled it to overcome the staunch opposition of the Conservative Party.
 

+ Votes in House of Commons on Bill C-38

Group

For

Against

Absentees

Total

Liberal cabinet

36

0

1

37

Liberal backbench

59

32

3

95

Conservatives

3

93

2

98

Bloc Québécois

43

5

6

54

NDP

17

1

1

19

Independents

0

2

2

4

Totals

158

133

16

307


While this vote is historic, gay weddings had already been legalized by the Supreme Courts of most Canadian provinces.  The C-38 bill now extends these rulings to the rest of Canada, namely to the provinces of Alberta, Prince Edward Island, and the territory of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

The adoption of this bill ends a longstanding political and judicial debate in Canada, with the House of Commons referring the issue to the Maritime|Maritimes and Prairie provinces are mostly against them.

Those tensions have also been felt in the House of Commons itself, when Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper said on Monday, anticipating that the C-38 bill would be adopted, that the vote would "lack in legitimacy" since the bill would pass because of an unnatural alliance between the federalist Liberals and the separatist Bloc Québécois.  This partisan view of gay rights has been strongly condemned, especially by Bloc Québécois leader Joe Comuzzi announced his resignation from the Liberal cabinet because of his opposition to gay weddings and the fact that Liberal cabinet members were required to vote the party line in this case.

es:Canadá aprueba matrimonios de personas del mismo sexo
Partido Liberal consegue aprovar sua lei sobre casamento homossexual no Canadá
Canada Politics and conflicts LGBT Paul Martin Stephen Harper Jack Layton North America Canadian Parliament Canadian House of Commons Same-sex marriage Liberal Party of Canada Conservative Party of Canada