Same-sex marriage in Canada

Before the federal recognition of same-sex marriage, court decisions had already introduced it in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories, whose residents collectively made up about 90 percent of Canada's population.

The Civil Marriage Act was introduced by Prime Minister Paul Martin's Liberal minority government to the House of Commons of Canada on February 1, 2005, as Bill C-38.

Following the 2006 election, which was won by a Conservative minority government under Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the House of Commons defeated a motion to reopen the matter by a vote of 175 to 123 on December 7, 2006, effectively reaffirming the legislation.

[5] Premier Ralph Klein threatened to invoke the notwithstanding clause of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to avoid having to comply with the ruling.

"[11] On June 17, 2003, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced that the government would present a bill to grant same-sex couples equal rights to marry.

[16][17] Following the Supreme Court's decision, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler introduced Bill C-38 on February 1, 2005, to legalize marriage between persons of the same sex across Canada.

The government of Prime Minister Paul Martin supported the bill but allowed a free vote by its backbench MPs in the House of Commons.

This trend could have been reversed only through Parliament passing a new law that explicitly restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples notwithstanding the protection of equality rights afforded by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or by amending the Canadian Constitution by inserting the clause "marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman", as was recommended by several conservative religious groups and politicians.

The courts in each case suspended the effect of the declarations of invalidity for two years, to allow the federal government to consider legislative responses to the rulings.

The court did not allow the province any grace time to bring its laws in line with the ruling, making Ontario the first jurisdiction in North America to recognize same-sex marriage.

[32] The couple who brought the suit, Michael Hendricks and René Leboeuf, immediately sought a marriage licence; the usual 20-day waiting period was waived, and they were wed on April 1 at the Palais de justice in Montreal.

It further ruled that to continue to restrict marriages in Yukon to opposite-sex couples would result in an unacceptable state of a provision's being in force in one jurisdiction and not another.

On August 16, 2004, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler indicated that the federal government would no longer oppose court cases to implement same-sex marriage in the provinces and territories.

[36] On September 16, 2004, Justice Douglas Yard of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench declared the then-current definition of marriage unconstitutional.

[41][42][43] Two same-sex couples in New Brunswick brought suit in April 2005 to request an order requiring the provincial government to issue them marriage licences.

The shift in Canadian attitudes towards acceptance of same-sex marriage and recent court rulings caused the Parliament of Canada to reverse its position on the issue.

On September 18, 1995, the House of Commons voted 124 to 52 to reject a motion introduced by openly gay member of Parliament Réal Ménard calling for the legal recognition of same-sex relationships.

[51] In early 2003, the issue once again resurfaced, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights proceeded to undertake a formal study of same-sex marriage, including a cross-country series of public hearings.

[63] Following the court decision on December 9, Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta suggested that a national referendum be held on same-sex marriage, a measure Prime Minister Martin rejected.

[77] By November 2006, the debate had shifted and it was the supporters of same-sex marriage that were arguing for a fall vote on the issue and the opponents who were lobbying for a delay.

"[83][84][85] In Hincks v. Gallardo, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice decided on January 7, 2013, that same-sex partners who entered into civil partnerships in the United Kingdom are to be treated as married for the purposes of Canadian law.

[92] By contrast, the other remaining province without same-sex marriage, Prince Edward Island, announced that it would voluntarily bring its laws into compliance with the federal legislation.

Canadians may also sponsor their same-sex common-law or civil union partners for family-class immigration, provided they meet various requirements, including proof of legitimacy and cohabitation for at least one year.

On December 12, 2006, New Democratic Party MP Bill Siksay introduced a motion in the House of Commons of Canada Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration calling on the IRCC to immediately rescind the interim policy and "recognize legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples performed in jurisdictions outside Canada for purposes of immigration in exactly the same way as the legal marriages of heterosexual couples are recognized"; the committee voted to recommend that the government do this.

[105] A government bill, the Civil Marriage of Non-residents Act (French: Loi sur le mariage civil de non-résidents), positively declaring such marriages legal in Canada and allowing non-residents to divorce in a Canadian court if prohibited from doing so in their home jurisdictions, was introduced and received first reading on February 17, 2012, and passed third and final reading on June 18, 2013.

[112] In July 2003, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in Canada protested the government's plans to include same-sex couples in civil marriage.

Amid a subsequent backlash in opinion, the Church remained remarkably quiet on the subject, at least in public, until late 2004, when two Catholic bishops clearly stated their opposition to same-sex marriage.

The Bishop of Calgary, Frederick Henry, in a pastoral letter urged Catholics to fight against the legalization of same-sex marriage, calling homosexual behaviour "an evil act".

The Humanist Association of Canada, which endorses a non-theistic, non-religious ethical philosophy to life and full separation of church and state, has been supportive of same-sex marriage.

Representatives of the World Sikh Organization testified before the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs in favour of the Civil Marriage Act.