From affirmation to betrayal.

June 8, 1999--Parliament votes 216 to 55 in favour of a Canadian Alliance resolution stating "marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and that Parliament will take all necessary steps to preserve this definition of marriage in Canada."

April 11, 2000--Parliament passes Bill C-23, 174 to 72, expanding the definition of "common-law relationship" to include same-sex couples and thereby give them the same social and tax benefits as common-law heterosexuals. But the definitions of "marriage" and "spouse" are left untouched, confirming June 8, 1999.

May 2000--Six gay and lesbian couples go to Toronto City Hall to demand marriage licences. The clerk refuses to grant them. The couples go to court.

January 14, 2001--Self-appointed minister Brent Hawkes of the 25-year-old homosexual Metropolitan Community Church in Toronto conducts same-sex "marriages" by reading the bans in the three weeks prior. Ontario refuses to recognize the marriages. This case joins the May 2000 case and gets a court hearing in November 2001.

October 2001--B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield upholds the traditional definition of marriage, ruling that "marriage" can refer only to the union of couples of the opposite sex.

November 2001--Quebec court backs same-sex "marriage" and agrees to register partners as couples. The provincial government passes a law allowing for same-sex "civil unions."

July 12, 2002--Ontario Divisional Court (Heather Smith, Robert Blair, and Harry LaForme) backs same-sex "marriage," giving the federal government two years to change legislation. The judges say the current law is unconstitutional because it denies same-sex couples.

September 8, 2002--Quebec Superior Court (Madam Justice Louise Lemelin) rules the definition of marriage as being between a man and a woman is unconstitutional and gives Parliament two years to change legislation. The case is appealed.

November 2002--"Marriage and Legal Recognition of Same-sex Unions" discussion paper released. Justice Minister Martin Cauchon proposes different solutions to the same-sex marriage debate, sparking hearings across Canada.

January 2003--Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons begins hearings on the same-sex "marriage" issue.

April 22, 2003--Hearings begin in the Ontario Court of Appeal; the government seeks to overturn the July 12, 2002, court ruling that favoured same-sex "marriage."

May 1, 2003--B.C. Court of Appeal rules that same-sex couples should have the right to marry, overturning the October 2001 B.C. ruling. It gives the federal government until July 12, 2004 to make it legal.

June 10, 2003--The Ontario Appeal Court rules traditional marriage unconstitutional as of that date.

June 12, 2003--The Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights of the House of Commons, which had discussed the definition of marriage for the last six months, is manipulated by the Liberal government in its vote of 9 to 8 not to appeal the Ontario June 10 Appeal Court ruling.

July 18, 2003--Justice Minister Martin Cauchon announces the Liberal government will drop the definition of marriage as held throughout the world and reaffirmed on June 8, 1999, and endorse "gay marriage" instead.