Canada’s governing Conservative Party is expected to enact changes today to the current Civil Marriage Act that will clear up confusion about the validity of any same-sex marriages. In January, a divorce case involving a foreign lesbian couple raised 
questions about whether such ceremonies were legal if performed for couples from countries where gay marriage wasn’t recognized.
Though Tory PM Stephen Harper (right) is fairly right wing, he has stated that his party considers the marriages valid and has no intention of reopening the debate on marriage equality.
At the time, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made it clear the government considered the situation merely a “legislative gap.” “The confusion and pain resulting from this gap is completely unfair to those who are affected,” Nicholson told reporters in January. “I want to make it clear that, in the government’s view, those marriages are valid.”
Conservative politicians who don’t try to dismantle LGBT rights? We can’t imagine what that’s like.
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MEJ
Harper, nor his party, are Tories. Harper’s Reform/Alliance party raided the Progressive Conservative party via a backroom deal with PC leader Peter MacKay. Then Peter MacKay rolled over and allowed Harper to swallow up the Tories and rename the party the Conservative Party of Canada. There is nothing Tory about anyone in the CPC.
John McLaren
Glad the Canadian same sex marriage issue for foreigners has been finally and quickly cleared up. Now all we have to do is convince Americans that the 911 terrorists did not come from Canada but had already received visas from the US government and were living in the USA where they had enrolled in flight training at local flying clubs.
ShaneG
@MEJ: which really has nothing to do with the general
message of this story. Not saying I don’t agree (NDP all the way baby), but please don’t take away from the substance by making it into something else.
ShaneG
Well I see you’ve taken the high road. Stick to topics at hand and don’t try to make things your own own “I’m oh so smart” issues and you won’t have to think up witty replies such as “Blow it out your ass”.
John McLaren
The point I was trying to make is that many US news and blogs will post headlines CANADIAN SAME SEX MARRIAGES NOT VALID and then never update the story. For many months and years later many will still believe Canadian gay marriages are not worth anything.
Same way that Homeland Secretary Janet Nepolitano last year made a speech about 911 terrorists coming into the USA from Canada. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also claimed that terrorists were entering the states using Native reservations that border the US (like the one in Cornwall Ontario). News stories need to be updated or ignorance becomes common knowledge even for government leaders like Clinton and Nepolitano who later apologized.
ShaneG
@John McLaren: my comments weren’t directed towards you in any way, shape or form.
MEJ
@ShaneG:
@John McLaren: my comments weren’t directed towards you in any way, shape or form.
A pretentious Dipper. Shocking!
TheLaughingMan
Stephen Harper, John Baird, Rob Nicholson and Vic Toews should be tarred and feathered, then banished from Canada!