You ahve misread the article, The PM was in the House. He was absent from debate. 12 so-called "Liberals" voted with the PM and his MPs. So much for them being the Party of the Charter. All New Democratic Members voted for gay marriage.

Um, Don, that's only 12 out of 102 Liberals who voted for the government's motion. In other words, 92 of 102 (or 91% ) voted for not messing with same-sex marriage. The Liberals brought in the Charter and gave us gay marriage. Give credit where credit is due.

This whole "re-opening" of the debate was a sham. The Courts have ruled that that to exclude same-sex marriage was against the Charter. As such, even if the Government wanted to restrict marriage to a man and a woman, the only way they could do so would be to invoke the "not-with-standing" clause. And, that my friends, in this country, would be political suicide.No political party would ever dare that. I'm glad this so-called "debate" is behind us. Now, let's move on to real issues like Afghanistan, climate change and whether or not the Cannucks should trade for a point-man on the power-play.

Stephen Harper needs to get a life. What a loser. Wasting time and money on this bullshit based on hate and ignorance. I pray his karma slaps him down soon.

Actually, the success of this motion would have been Stephen Harper's worst nightmare: Having to fight another election on an issue that most Canadians never wanted reopened. No one wanted this motion defeated more than him. Now he can say that he promised a free vote, he kept his promise, and he can move on. He'll be drinking champagne this evening at the thought that this issue is over in Canada.