Canadian partliament decides to let sleeping dogs marry thier same-sex partners...

[Che Guava]

Thank. Frigging. God.

MPs defeat motion to reopen same-sex marriage debate

A motion to reopen the same-sex marriage debate was easily defeated in Parliament on Thursday, as expected.

MPs voted 175-123 against the controversial motion tabled by the ruling Conservatives.

The motion had asked the government to introduce legislation to restore the traditional definition of marriage without affecting civil unions and while respecting existing same-sex marriages.

The Liberal and Conservative parties allowed their members to vote freely, and there were some surprises.

Twelve Tories broke from party lines and voted against the motion. They included cabinet ministers Peter MacKay, David Emerson, John Baird, Jim Prentice, Lawrence Cannon and Josée Verner.

Most Liberals also gave the motion the thumbs down. Among them were Joe Comuzzi, who gave up his cabinet post in 2005 so he could vote against a same-sex marriage bill proposed by the Liberal government.

All Bloc Québécois and NDP members present voted against Thursday's motion, as directed to by their party leaders.

The vote should put an end to parliamentary wrangling about same-sex marriage, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper had said a free vote — promised during January's general election campaign — would settle the matter.

A 'hollow' motion, Liberals criticize

Same-sex marriage became legal in Canada last year, when the Liberal government passed Bill C-38 in response to a series of court rulings that said gays had the right to marry.

The bill passed 158-133.

Thirty-two Liberals voted against it, while 95 supported it. Only three Conservatives gave the bill the thumbs up.

Liberals called this most recent motion hollow because, even if it had passed, it would not have struck down the right of gays to marry.

Most constitutional lawyers have said the only way the Tories could change the law would be to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, something Harper has said he would not do.

Before Thursday's vote, Liberal MP Bill Graham called the motion a roundabout procedure.

"[It's] a manoeuvre that takes us nowhere; it's not designed to," he said. "It is designed to divide the House, divide the members of the House and divide the Canadian population on an issue that has been settled."

link!

Maybe now we can move on to important things, and just let consenting adults marry whomever they choose...

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

Ya, I also doubt Harper was that enthusiastic about reopening the debate himself. He just had to appease his base, and it was a somewhat harmless gesture since it was obvious that it would fail.

 

[Trajan12]

I thought you were actually talking about dogs getting married.

I can't say I agree with this...

 

[Che Guava]

I'm just glad it'sover. move on and start working on real things...

 

[SuperBeaverInc.]

Not much of a suprise. I didn't expect it to pass.

 

[Adamb0mb]

I don't think a sleeping dog can consent to marriage.

my 2 cents.

 

[Godwynn]

Canada made the right move. I wish the U.S. would do the same.

 

[JonnyB]

Good, I would have been very disappointed if this had gone through.

 

[Eukaryote]

Excuse my gaming lingo but: PWED!

Anyway, I'm glad this worked out. Less churches screwing with marrage, more politicens working on real things. That's good news.

 

[GenMarshall]

Excuse my gaming lingo but: PWED!

Anyway, I'm glad this worked out. Less churches screwing with marrage, more politicens working on real things. That's good news.

At least they are not forcing Churches to marry homosexuals .

 

[Souron]

Canada made the right move. I wish the U.S. would do the same.

The US Fedral government does not legislate marriage. Each state would have to pass their own laws on the matter under current custom. Currently Massachusetts is the only state that has done so.

 

[JonnyB]

At least they are not forcing Churches to marry homosexuals .

We never even considered doing that.

 

[conehead234]

Strange Canadians, marrying dogs.

 

[GenMarshall]

Strange Canadians, marrying dogs.

I thought "sleeping dogs" is just a idiom or a figure of speach .

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

At least they are not forcing Churches to marry homosexuals .

That was never really a question. The prospect of that was a straw-man created by the religious right. No one is being forced to do anything.

 

[JollyRoger]

The US Fedral government does not legislate marriage. Each state would have to pass their own laws on the matter under current custom. Currently Massachusetts is the only state that has done so.

The U.S. Federal government recognizes marriage for heterosexuals for many purposes (including favorable treatment regarding taxes and retirement benefits). The Federal government does not even recognize Massachusetts gay couples for these special benefits to heterosexuals. There is a lot the Federal government could do in this area and bypass the states.

 

[Atlas14]

Exactly, I am tired of homosexuals whining, and I am tired of bigots oppressing. We need to move on.

 

[GenMarshall]

That was never really a question. The prospect of that was a straw-man created by the religious right. No one is being forced to do anything.

Well please tell the Religious Conservatives to stop scaring the Religious Moderates (Like myself, yes I am a Religious Moderate ).

 

[JonnyB]

Well please tell the Religious Conservatives to stop scaring the Religious Moderates (Like myself, yes I am a Religious Moderate ).

I think it's up to the moderates to bring the conservatives in line. They'll listen to you before they listen to "heretics"

 

[sysyphus]

At least they are not forcing Churches to marry homosexuals .

Indeed. One thing lost on too many people is that the vast majority of those of us who support same sex marriage are equally passionate about protecting a church's right to choose who they will and will not perform marriage ceremonies for.

That said, that's 2 pointless motions (the other being the "Quebec/nation" motion) that the Tories have wasted Parliament's and the national agenda's time with. If we have time for this, why do we not have time for the environment or the AIDS epidemic in Africa?