The (full title: "'''An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes'''") was introduced as '''Bill C-38''' in the first session of the 38th Canadian Parliament on February 1 , 2005 . It passed the House Of Commons on June 28 , 2005 , and the Senate on July 19 , 2005 . The Act became law when it received Royal Assent on July 20 . The Legislation legalized Same-sex Marriage In Canada . As usual for federal legislation in Canada, the Act also includes a French text of equal force to the English under the title ''Loi sur le mariage civil'', or in full, ''Loi concernant certaines conditions de fond du mariage civil''.
This is the Act's official legislative summary:
The short title of the act (''Civil Marriage Act'') is defined in Section 1. Sections 2 through 4 form the substance of the Act, and were the key points of contention during its debate in the House Of Commons and the Senate . It should be noted that Section 3.1 was added with an amendment during the Committee Stage , and was subsequently adopted by the House Of Commons .
Marriage - certain aspects of capacity
:2. Marriage, for civil purposes, is the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others.
:3. It is recognized that officials of religious groups are free to refuse to perform marriages that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs.
Freedom of conscience and religion and expression of beliefs
:3.1 For greater certainty, no person or organization shall be deprived of any benefit, or be subject to any obligation or sanction, under any law of the Parliament of Canada solely by reason of their exercise, in respect of marriage between persons of the same sex, of the freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed under the '' Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms '' or the expression of their beliefs in respect of marriage as the union of a man and woman to the exclusion of all others based on that guaranteed freedom.
Marriage not void or voidable
:4. For greater certainty, a marriage is not void or voidable by reason only that the spouses are of the same sex.
The remaining sections are "consequential amendments" that simply adjust the wording of existing acts to conform to this one.
As a government bill, C-38 represented the official position of Paul Martin 's Liberal government, and the Cabinet were thus bound to vote in its favor. Liberal Backbencher s and members of the Conservative Party and '' Bloc Québécois '' had a free vote. The New Democratic Party (NDP) Whipped its members in favour. Bev Desjarlais opposed and suffered the withdrawal of her party nomination, and subsequently chose to sit independently during the next Session Of Parliament . Conservatives tended to vote against the Act, while Bloquistes tended to vote in favour. At least two cabinet ministers stepped down to vote against the bill. Joe Comuzzi resigned just hours before the final vote on the Act, and Martin lamented his leave. As expected, Comuzzi voted against the Act.
The composition of Parliament was such that the prevailing opinion among political commentators indicated the Bill would likely pass the House (see a detailed analysis at Members Of The 38th Canadian Parliament And Same-sex Marriage ). Although there was some challenge to it, this opinion was verified with a 158-133 vote at third reading in the House Of Commons on June 28 . The bill passed in the Senate on July 19 , with a 47-21 vote, with 3 abstentions.
See {Link without Title}
for the full history of the bill.
The bill was given its ''.
Due to the government's tenuous minority position, there was a strong possibility that the government could have fallen on a Motion Of Confidence through the budget bills, causing the bill to die on the order paper. It would then have been up to a new post-election government to re-introduce the bill affirming same-sex marriage (or to introduce a bill, of uncertain constitutionality, defining marriage as one man and one woman). However, the government survived the last of the budget votes on June 23 , 2005 , and successfully passed a resolution to extend the current sitting of Parliament. In order to pass the resolution extending the session, the Liberals provided a written promise to the Bloc Québécois that they would bring C-38 to a vote before the end of the current session.
Finally, on June 28 , the Act was passed on third reading by the House of Commons; 158 voting in favour, 133 voting against. On July 19 , it passed the Senate by a 47-21 vote with 3 abstentions, and received Royal Assent (thereby becoming law) on July 20 .
A summary of the legislation's progress is given below.
- February 1 , 2005 - Cotler introduces the bill and the House grants first reading. Accordingly, it is designated Bill C-38 and published.
- February 2 , 2005 - Conservative support for the bill doubles to four MPs as former PC s Jim Prentice and Gerald Keddy announce they will vote in favour. Belinda Stronach (who later became a Liberal cabinet minister) and James Moore were already on record as being in favour.
- Theatres because of a 10 second ad that urged moviegoers to contact their MP s to say they support same-sex marriage. They refused to buy an ad when they learn it was paid for by Salah Bachir on behalf of Canadians For Equal Marriage .
- February 16 , 2005 - Second Reading begins on the bill with speeches by Prime Minister Paul Martin ; Opposition Leader Stephen Harper ; '' Bloc Québécois '' leader Gilles Duceppe ; and NDP Human Rights Critic Bill Siksay . {Link without Title}
- April 12 , 2005 - The Conservative Party 's Motion against the bill is defeated 164-132 against.
- May 4 , 2005 - Bill C-38 passes Second Reading in the House of Commons with a final vote of 164-137 for.
- May 5 , 2005 - Bill C-38 has its 1st special legislative committee meeting to study the bill, to listen from witnesses both against and for the bill, as well as propose amendments.
- May 19 , 2005 - Paul Martin's Minority Government survives a close (153-152) Motion Of Confidence ; with the Liberals still in power and Stephen Harper's Conservatives hinting that they'll back off future votes of non-confidence. Bill C-38 showed a strong promise of being made law (after a 3rd reading and vote) sometime before Parliament adjourns for the summer as the Prime Minister indicated MPs may sit in the summer, and the Senate would deal with the bill in July.
- June 15 , 2005 - Paul Martin's Minority Government survives no fewer than 16 confidence votes in the House of Commons. A defeat on any of them would have forced an election. But in the end, there was no repeat of the single-vote squeaker win of May 19 . The closest vote passed 153 to 149; Gurmant Grewal on stress leave over the tape scandal and 2 MPs sick with cancer, and Thibault from the BQ away due to the passing away of her father. As well, a series of public opinion polls released just days earlier all showed the Liberals in the lead, one of them released just a week ago showing the Liberals have a 14% lead over the Tories. The Tories seem themselves to not be wanting an election now, either.
- June 15 , 2005 - It is appearing less likely the bill will be out of 3rd reading stage by the time MPs recess from the summer on June 23 (unless sittings area extended) due to Conservatives stalling the budget bill (C-48), and the Government wants to deal with C-48 before C-38. The Government can invoke closure and force a vote on C-38 immediately, but it seems unlikely to happen since even the Liberal Government has disgruntled MPs against C-38 that want more debate now that the committee has reported. Weeks ago, Pat O'Brien left the Liberal caucus over the same-sex marriage legislation, that he felt was being rushed through the Commons. Cotler says the Government is where they expected to be which is now at Report Stage and that although he wants to see the legislation passed by the summer, he's only the Minister of Justice.
- June 16 , 2005 - The special legislative committee studying C-38 reported back to the House of Commons, with an amendment designed to help further protect religious officials who are against performing a same-sex marriage, and that those opposed to same-sex marriage should be able to speak their mind. Another amendment will be finalized soon that protects religious officials from losing their charitable tax status.
- June 23 , 2005 - Traditionally, it is around this date that the House of Commons closes. But with Bill C-38 in the process, MPs of the Liberal, Bloc and NDP parties vote to extend the sitting time through the following week to pass Bill C-38 in third and final reading. The same night, the budget bill (Bill C-48) passes after a late night snap vote is called, ending the threat by Bill C-38 opponents to derail the bill by defeating the budget thereby bringing down the government and forcing a general election.
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- to vote for the legislation, while it remained a free vote for Liberal backbench MPs. Joe Comuzzi , a traditional opponent of same-sex marriage, resigned from Cabinet and voted against the bill. Almost all New Democrat and '' Bloc Québécois '' MPs voted in favour of the bill, while the Conservative MPs were virtually unanimous in voting against it. Stephen Harper made a controversial claim that "the law lacks legitimacy because it passed {Link without Title} with the support of the Separatist Bloc party", and a majority of the federalist side was against. NDP MP Bev Desjarlais is stripped of her position in the NDP's Shadow Cabinet as Transport and the Canadian Wheat Board . She later lost her party's nomination for the riding of Churchill . The Bloc and the Conservatives declared C-38 a free vote.
- was then scheduled for July 4 and the forthcoming days.
- for Time Allocation that would restrict debate on the bill to six hours. {Link without Title} . Debate on second reading is to continue the next day.
- July 5 2005 - Debate on second reading continued, although the actual debate occurred only for a few minues. This was then followed by a long and heated debate on whether to invoke cloture (rather than on the main bill). Cloture was invoked by a margin of 40 to 17 with 2 abstentions.[http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/senate/deb-E/081db_2005-07-05-e.htm#40
- July 6 2005 - The Senate passed Bill C-38 on second reading by a margin of 43 to 12. The Bill went to the Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs. {Link without Title}
- July 14 , 2005 - The Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs finished seeing witnesses, and performed a Clause-by-clause Consideration . {Link without Title}
- July 18 , 2005 - The Committee reported back to the Senate without amendment, and the final debate was then scheduled to start the next day. Unanimous consent required to proceed directly to a vote on third reading was denied. {Link without Title}
- July 19 2005 - Debate on third reading of Bill C-38 began in the Senate. An attempt to delay third reading of the bill by six months was defeated 19 to 52, and an amendment to the bill that have declared "traditional marriage" as being between a man and a woman and "civil marriage" as between two persons failed, 24 to 46, with 4 abstentions. Shortly after 11 p.m., the Senate passed Bill C-38 on third and final reading by a margin of 47 to 21, with 3 abstentions. {Link without Title}
- July 20 2005 - Bill C-38 receives Royal Assent from Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin (in her capacity as the Deputy Governor General Of Canada ) acting on behalf of ailing Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and is proclaimed into law. [http://www.parl.gc.ca/38/1/parlbus/chambus/senate/DEB-E/085db_2005-07-20-e.htm?Language=E&Parl=38&Ses=1#58
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