Update on legislation.

The pressure on Members of Parliament to oppose S.S."M." (the government's proposed legislation on Same-Sex "Marriage") increased steadily throughout the summer, especially in Ontario. Ninety-nine of the 171 Liberal seats in the House of Commons come from that province.

As pointed out in the October edition ("Shock therapy for Canada," pp. 13-15), the government made its original announcement in mid-July to go along with the decree from the three Ontario Appeal Court judges (June 10). The definition of marriage must be changed, the Court said, from "one man and one woman" to "two persons." The media forecast an easy passage. But this air of confidence disappeared quickly after the Evangelical Community and the Catholic bishops of Ontario condemned the government's plans. Then the Vatican, in its letter of July 31 condemning S.S."M.", told Catholic politicians that an informed conscience should not permit them to vote for such a measure. This enraged the media which exploded with editorials, articles and letters. But the opposition bore fruit. By mid-August a poll of MPs of all five parties, showed 132 MPs opposed, 109 in favour, and 63 undecided.

Motion on marriage

Parliament resumed sitting on Monday, September 16, and the next day the Canadian Alliance reintroduced the motion of June 8, 1999 (passed by a vote of 216 to 65), which stated that "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." In order to make it even easier for Liberals to vote against their government, an amendment called for dropping the second part of the motion, starting with "and that Parliament...." After considerable suspense, the vote led to a tie, 134 to 134, leaving it to the speaker, Peter Milliken of Kingston, ON, to throw the decisive vote. Milliken is an 'out of the closet' homosexual and, not surprisingly therefore, he voted in the negative, defeating the amendment.

What was annoying for the defending side was to find out that this vote could have been won if one or two absent Liberals, Dennis Mills of Toronto-Danforth, or Laurence MacAuly of PEI, both Catholics, had been there. But both were hiding at home out of political "prudence."

The House then moved to the main motion, now unchanged, and defeated it, 137 to 132. Two Liberals changed sides to make it happen: Roy Cullen (Etobicoke North), a Catholic; and Alex Shepherd (Durham). Nancy Karetak-Lindell (Nunavut) showed up for the first time and also joined the 'nays.'

Bill C-250

The letdown of the previous day did not bode well for the vote of Wednesday, Sept. 17 on the notorious private member's Bill C-250 of NDP MP Svend Robinson. It proposed to add "sexual orientation" to the Hate Crimes Act. Typically enough, the pro-gay Liberal government backed the bill, which passed with flying colours, 141 to 110. One Parti Quebecois (Robert Lanctot); three PC's (John Herron, Gerald Keddy and Peter MacKay, all from the Maritimes) and eleven Liberals, all of whom had voted in support of the traditional marriage motion on Tuesday, abandoned the good cause and voted for the dangerous Bill C-250: Yvon Charbonneau (Que.); Ron Cullen (mentioned above); Mark Eyking (Victoria); Joe Fontana (London North); Albina Guarnieri (Mississauga East); Clifford Lincoln (Que.); John Maloney (Erie); Shawn Murphy (PEI); Gilbert Normand (Que.); Judy Sgro (York West); and Alex Shepherd, also mentioned earlier.

In due time Catholic Insight will publish all the names. For now it suffices to indicate that

a) the Canadian Alliance voted as a bloc for the Tuesday motion and against Bill C-250 on Wednesday; for this they are to be congratulated.

b) the entire Liberal Cabinet voted against the Marriage Motion, and in favour of Bill C-250, for which they are to be condemned.

c) the NDP joined the government in both cases as did most of the Quebec MPs whether Liberal or Bloc Quebecois; nothing new here.

d) Paul Martin was present for both votes and voted the wrong way as in (b).

The Canadian Alliance is to be commended for their strong stand on behalf of common sense and civilization, as are the many Liberals who courageously voted against their government. Bill C-250 has now moved to the Senate. If the Senate decides to hold hearings, there may be a chance that it be delayed beyond November 12.