Tonight, Canada became the third country in the world to expand its legal definition of marriage to include gay and lesbian couples. The vote was 158-133
Of course, it is already legal for over 80% of Canadians living in the 7 provinces whose high courts have overturned discriminatory legislation. Hundreds of couples have since been married - my partner and I will soon be doing this ourselves, and having our union blessed by our Anglican parish.
The reason is simple. It's the Canadian Charter of Rights, stupid. Namely article 15: "Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." Clearly, the old Marriage Act didn't pass muster, as successive provincial courts and the Supreme Court of Canada have ruled.
A history of recent progress begins in 1992, when the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the equality provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights include gays and lesbians, and the government subsequently included sexual orientation in the federal Human Rights Act. In the intervening years, gays and lesbians acquired the right to serve in the military, receive federal benefits, and, in most provinces, to adopt children, be foster parents and to receive benefits.
More recent Supreme Court rulings have knocked down one province's attempts to limit benefits to gays and lesbians. In 1999, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples have the same rights and responsibilities as opposite-sex common law couples, including the filing of joint tax returns and census forms, child custody, division of property following dissolution of a relationship, and entitlement to survivor benefits.
In the past two years, the high courts of six provinces and the Yukon have ruled that same-sex couples are entitled to the right to marry. The response of the federal government was to ask the Supreme Court to provide answers to specific questions on a constitutionally-acceptable piece of legislation, and when that happened, the legislation was introduced into the House.
And so here we are - on this glorious day for equality, tolerance, and freedom of conscience. Me, my partner, and my gay and lesbian friends will be heading to downtown Vancouver to celebrate Canada Day on Friday - secure in the knowledge that this is one of the best places in the world to live, and almost certainly the best for gays and lesbians!