Liberals vow to pass same-sex bill

[bonoman]

Its about time!!!

Take notice Melon and Irvine, our govt has seen the light!



Liberals vow to pass same-sex bill
CTV.ca News Staff

The Liberals are vowing to extend the spring session of Parliament in order to pass the same-sex marriage and budget legislations.

And if they have to, they say they'll ask the House Speaker to wake Parliament from its scheduled summer slumber in order get it done.

After weeks of appearing non-committal on Bill C-38, which would change the legal definition of marriage in Canada, Liberal House Leader Tony Valeri on Tuesday said the government is now declaring it a matter of national interest.

Valeri said the government will use every procedural move they can muster to pass Bill C-38 before the House rises for the summer.

"My commitment is to deal with 38 at all stages and vote," says Valeri.

A motion he put forth earlier this week to extend Parliament's sitting will come to a vote on Wednesday.

"If we don't extend the House, we're not going to get any of these bills finished," Liberal MP Derek Lee said Tuesday night on CTV Newsnet's Countdown.

Valeri acknowledged Tuesday that his motion to extend the Parliament's session would be tight without the Bloc's support.

But in a rare move, he said the Liberals are prepared to go to House Speaker Peter Milliken and ask him to recall the House should the motion fail to pass. A Speaker hasn't recalled the House of Commons since 1991.

The Liberals' determination seems to have angered the Conservatives.

Conservative House Leader Jay Hill calls the Liberals' move "an abuse of power."

Conservative MP Diane Ablonczy added that the Liberal government could have moved to end debate and put the bills to a vote well before the summer break.

"We're not prepared to make accommodations because they didn't plan properly. I think that we're not going to be supporting that kind of extension," she said on Countdown.

The NDP, meanwhile, has promised to support sittings into the summer in order to get both bills passed.

"I think we're here for another couple of weeks until C-48 and C-38 are passed," said Judy Wasylycia-Leis, the NDP finance critic, on Countdown: With Mike Duffy. "It's unfortunate that we're into the middle of summer, but that's going to be the case."

 

[u2bonogirl]

Im so sick of people being at war about this I hope they pass the bill soon

 

[BVS]

 

[Se7en]

ah, our friendly neighbors to the north.

 

[anitram]

 

[melon]

It's great that Paul Martin has stuck up for it. I know that he was a bit cowardly, in regards to gay marriage, at first, but I have to give him credit for sticking to it after he summoned up some courage. I wish the Democrats would follow their example.

Anyway, here's some news on the American front, which would go a long way in making me happier:

Bipartisan Bill Would Ensure Gay Bi-National Couples Equal Treatment
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: June 21, 2005 2:00 pm ET

(Washington) Legislation was introduced in Congress Tuesday that would treat same-sex couples the same as opposite sex-couples for the purposes of immigration.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House and Sen. Pat Leahy (D-Vt) in the Senate, has a large number of bipartisan cosponsors in both chambers.

The Uniting American Families Act was previously named the Permanent Partners Immigration Act which died when the last session of Congress ended.

Nadler said he expected the new measure to fare better because it has broader support.

The move was hailed by LGBT civil rights groups.

"Our nation should bring families together, not tear them apart," said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

"Same-sex bi-national couples are often forced to separate because the government views them as strangers under the law."

Adam Francoeur, Program Coordinator of Immigration Equality said that the 2000 Census reports nearly 36,000 couples living in same-sex bi-national relationships in the U.S.

"The Uniting American Families Act upholds the stated principle within U.S. immigration policy to promote family unification," said Francoeur.

At least 16 countries recognize same-sex couples for the purposes of immigration including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Be aware that this bill has been brought up every year since 2001, and every year, our GOP-led Congress has derailed the bill.

Melon

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

It really does amaze me that we still have to have any debate over this. to Canada, and that is some good news regarding our country, too, melon...hopefully that'll actually go through this time.

Angela

 

[DrTeeth]

I was shocked to read this until I found out they were talking about Canada. Still excellent news!!

Welcome to the 21st century Canada

 

[A_Wanderer]

Yes fine; and they should also allow gay adoption and lesbian IVF.

 

[dandy]

let's hope this passes.

 

[verte76]

I hope this passes.

 

[pax]

My fingers are crossed for Canadian gay couples and their friends and families.

 

[Irvine511]

go, Canada, go!

as in so many other areas, a bloated and complacant and increasingly arrogant USA is being left in the dust by other countries.

i wish many Americans would wake up and erase their world-is-flat mentalities and join the 21st century.

 

[pax]

Related news, I guess...marry a Canadian!

http://forum.interference.com/t131822.html

 

[trevster2k]

Ok chill out everyone. This is still a long way from being passed. Our parliament is facing non-confidence motions almost daily and the fate of the bill is not guaranteed. Our parliament has been static for months now but I hope they finally enact this bill.

 

[Judah]

It'll get passed. Most of the Bloc party, the NDP and the Libs will support it. You'll have opposition from probably all of the Conservatives and a few of Liberals own caucus. Conservatives will want to drag it out, to try to get their polling numbers up over the summer, but they'll be preaching to the converted.

The no confidence votes are for show. Nobody wants a national election at this time, especially the Conservatives, seeing how far behind they are in Ontario.

 

[bonoman]

Judah is dead right!

The Bloc are as left as the NDP and they support this legislation. It will pass. Im sure of it.

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Yeah. Stay optimistic. It may still have a ways to go, but that doesn't automatically mean bad news for it .

*Crosses fingers with other people*

Angela

 

[kobayashi]

this evening, thanks to a lib-bloc deal, the house will approve of an extension of the HOC sitting period. the bloc supports the notion on the grounds that same-sex gets passed, and the real carrot for the liberals is the passing of the ndp's budget spending addendum which will also pass in the days to come.

to an onlooker, canada would appear to swing wildly to the left in the coming week.

the stage has clearly been set for the election with liberal accomplishments and tory whining.

 

[trevster2k]

Yep, they passed the extension on the Parliament session opening the door for approval of same-sex marriage legislation AND caught the conservatives off guard by passing a motion to end debate on C-48 ( the NDP section promoting $4.8 billion more in social spending). They then called for a vote and it passed. Sneaky buggers

Also, today in New Brunswick, their courts opened the way for same-sex marriage leaving only PEI, the Northwest Territories and Alberta as the only provinces/territories without same-sex marriage. Alberta will never allow it as long as King Ralph is there but screw them. 90% of the country and the federal government will recognize same-sex marriage in Canada within a few short weeks.

We rock.

 

[dandy]

Also, today in New Brunswick, their courts opened the way for same-sex marriage

at long last, my conservative province gets with the program.

 

[PopFly]

I'm very much in favour of this bill, but I have to laugh at how it passed. A secret late-night vote? Did Martin see that episode of West Wing from a few months ago?

For the record, Harper is now batting a solid .000 as Conservative leader. Get this clown out of power, please.

 

[dandy]

tonight's the night for the vote on the same sex marriage bill, and it looks like it should easily pass.

 

[DrTeeth]

tonight's the night for the vote on the same sex marriage bill, and it looks like it should easily pass.

Can you already feel the foundations of your society starting to tremble?

 

[dandy]

'it's the end of the world as we know it
and i feel fine'

 

[LadyRhia]

Iam keeping all my fingers and toes crossed!

 

[sulawesigirl4]

Good luck Canada! Maybe your southern neighbors will wake up and do the right thing in oh...another 100 years or so.

 

[Judah]

For the record, Harper is now batting a solid .000 as Conservative leader. Get this clown out of power, please.

No, no...please keep him in. He's so helping to keep the right wingers off the radar.

His latest tact, saying the Bloc votes for same-sex marriage bill shouldn't count, since the Bloc doesn't really represent Canadians' interest, just Quebeckers.

Of course, Harper and the Conservatives had no problem siding with the Bloc a few weeks ago to try to defeat the government.

Hypocrite.

Out of all of this, Layton and the NDP look the most with it. But then, given the others' political history, that's not much of a challenge.

 

[melon]

The British Empire ended slavery in 1809, the year Lincoln was born. The U.S. ended slavery in 1865, the year Lincoln died.

When it comes to human rights, the U.S. is historically behind the times.

Melon

 

[kobayashi]

i am friends with a couple of people within the conservative parties executive group and one in particular who works within their communications team. i cannot understand how this group allows their leader to present such unbelievably asinine views. perhaps he is just a loose cannon. either way, ill be mildly surprised if harper makes it to another election as leader, let alone win it. if he were to make it while there is presently no hope for a conservative majority, his government wouldnt last the morning as he is pulled any hope of coalition building out from underneath him.

from canada.com

OTTAWA (CP) -- Stephen Harper says any gay marriage law will be stamped with illegitimacy because it will owe its passage to Quebec separatists.

Same-sex marriage legislation, which is expected to become law later this week with the votes of the Bloc Quebecois, would have been thwarted if only federalists MPs were casting ballots, the Conservative leader said Monday.

"Because it's being passed with the support of the Bloc, I think it will lack legitimacy with most Canadians," Harper told CBC Newsworld.

"The truth is most federalist MPs oppose this."

Conservative justice critic Vic Toews went further.

"The federalist MPs in Canada, the majority of them, would oppose (gay marriage) on a free vote. So what we are seeing now is simply an agreement by this government with the separatist Bloc -- who have no long-term interest in staying in Canada."