Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

an update from CEM, via Multi-Union Pride

Prime Minister says the issue is settled

After more than a year of facing the threat that equal marriage would be taken away, we can breathe easy and rejoice: on December 7, 2006 Members of Parliament rejected Stephen Harper’s motion to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate.

The vote wasn’t even close, with the motion being defeated by a vote of 123 to 175. In every single party the percentage of MPs that voted for equality increased. That increase reflects the growing consensus among Canadians that equal marriage is settled. Even in the Conservative caucus, 13 members voted against their own government’s motion, including Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay, Treasury Board President John Baird and four other cabinet ministers.

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via Muti-Union Pride

A gay Israeli couple who married in Canada has won a legal battle to have the union recognized in Israel.

In a precedent-setting ruling Tuesday, Israel’s High Court of Justice decided that the couple, as well as four others wedded abroad, should be allowed to register their marriages, and have the same rights as heterosexual couples marrying out of country in civil ceremonies.

The court has ordered the government to adopt its stand.

“We’re delighted but the struggle is not over,” Yossi Ben-Ari said in the Jerusalem Post.

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Via Multi Union Pride

Delay requested by equality opponents

(OTTAWA - Sept 27, 2006 ) Before Parliament resumed for the fall session, it was widely reported that a vote on Mr. Harper’s motion to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate would take place in early October. However, as Parliament resumed, Mr. Harper privately told his caucus that the vote would be delayed until just before Christmas.

“We are calling Mr. Harper out on this delay,” said Laurie Arron, National Coordinator of Canadians for Equal Marriage. “We know that opponents of equal marriage have asked for a delay, because they know the motion will be defeated and that after the vote Mr. Harper will have to admit that the issue is settled.”

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via Multi-Union Pride

The fall session of Parliament begins today. That means we’re in the home stretch leading to a vote to re-open the divisive equal marriage debate, which Prime Minister Harper has promised will take place this fall.

We believe we’ll win this vote, and put an end to the threat that now hangs over LGBT people and all Canadians who believe in equality. However, equality opponents know this is their last chance, and they are going all out to pressure MPs. They wrongly say equal marriage is a threat to children and to religious freedom and that Bill C-38 was rushed through Parliament without proper study.

According to a September 4 Hill Times story, an alliance of 13 traditional marriage, family and religious advocacy groups will launch a 15-point lobbying campaign beginning on Sept. 18. The alliance will bring religious leaders, local leaders, and political leaders to Ottawa to meet with their respective MPs, and will have prayer rallies in front of MP offices across the country.

Read more at equal-marriage.ca and tell your MP you oppose re-opening the divisive equal marriage debate.

On June 28, 2005, the House of Commons passed Bill C-38 by a vote of 158 to 133, marking the end of one of the longest and most thorough debates MPs have ever had. The Senate passed the bill on July 19 and it became law on July 20, 2005.

One year later, Canadians have largely moved on. Canadians for Equal Marriage commissioned Environics Research to conduct a poll asking Canadians whether they support equal marriage and whether they wish to re-open the equal marriage debate.

By a more than a 2 to 1 margin, Canadians who expressed an opinion consider this matter settled and are against having another vote. Even a majority of Conservative voters (52%) are against re-opening, while only 38% want to re-open the issue and 10% did not express an opinion.

The poll also asked whether “same-sex couples should have the same right to civil marriage as opposite-sex couples.” 59% of all respondents agreed, only 33% disagreed and 8% did not express an opinion.

In response, a June 20 Globe and Mail editorial titled “Really, get past it” said of the CEM poll: “Fairly worded questions, and the answers were clear… Mr. Harper is raising an issue that most Canadians see no need to revisit. Take it off the agenda.”

For more details, visit equal-marriage.ca.

Via Canadians for Equal Marriage: The equal marriage issue is heating up on Parliament Hill, and we need your help.

Although we’re ahead in the vote count, equal marriage opponents are asking Mr. Harper to delay the motion to re-open the debate. They want this delay so they have more time to mobilize against us.

Stephen Harper has confirmed he’ll hold a vote on re-opening equal marriage. So the only issue is when. How long will he delay that vote? Until he thinks he has the votes to win? Until after the next election?

THE ONLY WAY TO PREVENT THIS DELAY IS TO CONTACT YOUR MP!! Do it now so they know we won’t tolerate a delay. Do it now so they know it’s not okay to pander to the religious right. Go to www.equal-marriage.ca/election.php to e-mail your MP in just a few clicks.

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The prime minister avoided the issue in his April 4 Speech from the Throne (meant to outline the government’s agenda for the upcoming session), so Canadians for Equal Marriage held a press conference the following morning. In the media theatre on Parliament Hill, Emily Turk and Cynthia Misener, a lesbian couple hoping to marry later this year, called on Harper to reveal his intentions.

“Nobody should have to plan their wedding under this kind of threat,” they said.

Within two hours, Justice Minister Vic Toews responded by confirming the government’s plan to hold a vote on re-opening the equal marriage debate “sooner rather than later”. Harper himself said a vote would take place “within the life of this Parliament, probably in the fall.”

So, once again, the equality of gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-identified people is threatened, and the right of all Canadian couples to access civil marriage is hanging in the balance.

Read more at equal-marriage.ca.

Stephen Harper has issued a wake-up call to Canadians. He has made clear his government will table a motion to reopen the divisive debate on equal marriage. In his own words, this will happen “sooner rather than later” after Parliament resumes sitting on April 3.

When Mr. Harper became Prime Minister, our opponents went into high gear. When he appointed Vic Toews as Justice Minister, they cheered even more.

Vote Marriage Canada (formerly Defend Marriage Canada) gave ex-MP Pat O’Brien a new permanent job as its Executive Director. A few weeks later, Focus on the Family, the Canadian branch of a powerful American religious right organization, opened an office in Ottawa under the banner of the Institute for Marriage and Family Canada. IMFC is specifically focused on convincing MPs to support their “family values” agenda, starting with turning back the clock on equal marriage.

These are just two examples of how opponents of equal marriage, backed by their powerful American friends, are preparing to unleash a multi-million dollar campaign to take away those precious rights we fought so hard to establish.

With a vote looming and our opponents mobilizing we have no choice but to act. We can’t afford to stand idly by while millions of dollars are mobilized against us. We can’t afford not to answer this wake-up call as a vote in Parliament looms.Read more at equal-marriage.ca

A vote to take away equal marriage is coming, and we must take action to defend our rights. That’s why Egale has decided to resurrect Canadians for Equal Marriage.

After years of debate and unanimous rulings by courts in 8 provinces and the Yukon, on Wednesday, July 20, 2005 equal marriage became the law of the land.

Parliament decided. It clearly and loudly proclaimed that same sex couples are equal in value and equal in law.

Now that is threatened. Despite polls showing 2/3 of Canadians do not want a Harper government to bring the equal marriage issue back to Parliament, Prime Minister Harper insists there will be a vote on rolling back equality.

Read more at Canadians for Equal Marriage.