Tuesday, September, 10, 2002

A story released today by the Canadian Press reports that the Canadian federal government announced Monday it plans to consult Canadians on same-sex marriages and will also appeal a Quebec court ruling calling the legal definition of marriage discriminatory.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon said the issue of same-sex marriages should not be solely left in the hands of the courts. He said the government had to show "leadership" on the issue.

He also plans to prepare a working document in the next few weeks outlining the options considered by the government in relation to same-sex marriages.

In the meantime, the federal government will appeal a ruling by Quebec Superior Court on Friday which said the current legal definition of marriage as only being between a man and a woman is unjustified, a spokesman for Cauchon said Monday.

In her decision, Justice Louise Lemelin echoed an Ontario court ruling in July that said that province's government had to register gay and lesbian marriages. The Ontario Superior Court suspended that ruling for two years to give the federal government time to redefine the term marriage.

Lemelin found that the definition of the term marriage "imposes a discriminatory distinction in excluding couples of the same sex."

Cauchon had announced at the end of July that the government was going to appeal the Ontario ruling as well.

Patrick Charette, a spokesman for Cauchon, said the government needed to clarify matters and noted that a court in British Columbia had rendered a contrary decision to Quebec and Ontario in a similar case.

"Fundamentals are at stake and we believe it is important to clarify the reach of the judgments," he said. "The courts invalidated provisions of the Charter (of Rights and Freedoms) and federal law so it needs to be clarified."