Canadian Marriage Commissioner Expects to Be a Victim of Gay Marriage Law
Canadian Justice Minister, Irwin Cotler
With the passage of Canadian bill C-38 in the House of Commons and the Senate, the legalization of gay marriage in Canada is expected to receive royal assent today. When the bill was being debated, Canadian Justice Minister Irwin Cotler, repeatedly promised that religious rights would not violated with this law. However, those promises ring hollow for provincially appointed marriage commissioners. Several provincial governments have demanded that they perform same-sex marriages. According to a July 19 article in The Globe and Mail, at least one in ten commissioners have resigned in Newfoundland after being told they must perform the ceremonies. At least twelve commissioners in Manitoba and eight in Saskatchewan have followed suit. However, Orville Nichols from Regina, Saskatchewan has refused to resign.
In May, Nichols was asked to perform a same-sex marriage and refused. The couple filed a complaint with the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission. In light of Nichols and others like him, Cotler said, "One should be able to find a way of accommodating those who for reasons of conscience feel they don't want to perform a same-sex marriage." Saskatchewan's Justice Minister Frank Quennell made his position clear in late 2004 when he said that marriage commissioners are expected to follow the law and could lose their jobs if they do not marry same-sex couples.
In light of the same-sex marriage legislation, VOMC's Communications Director, Glenn Penner, has written a weblog on the Roman Catholic Church's response to members of parliament who supported bill C-38. We encourage you to read his commentary and answer our online poll click here.
The Supreme Court of Canada has announced that they will be releasing their decision regarding Trinity Western University's School of Law on Friday, June 15th. The ruling could have wide-ranging implications on the protection of religious freedoms in Canada.
The first few weeks of the Solitary Refinement touring stage play has already had audiences in various parts of the nation captivated. On numerous occasions, those who have been blessed to witness this life-transforming production have responded with standing ovations -- to the glory of God!
"It should be front page news across Canada," states Sun Media's Ezra Levant in an email news alert. Due to the results of a referendum among the province's lawyers, the British Columbia Law Society voted recently to reverse an earlier decision to accredit Trinity Western University (TWU) law school graduates. As a result, graduates of TWU's law school will not be able to practise law in British Columbia (BC).
The legal profession rejected accreditation for TWU's graduates based on a personal pledge of conduct the university's students are required to sign. The pledge, which includes a promise to abstain from sex outside of traditional marriage, raises a same-sex equality rights issue for the BC Law Society, but pits it against religious freedom in Canada.
On December 3, a Court of Queen's Bench judge overturned a December 2007 ruling by the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) that a letter written by Stephen Boissoin published in a local newspaper broke provincial law against spreading hatred (click here for more details). Justice E.C. Wilson ruled that the AHRC panel chair Lori Andreachuk had made many errors in her ruling. The judge ruled that Andreachuk's order that Boissoin pay $5,000 and refrain from making "disparaging remarks" about homosexuals could not be enforced, as it was "unlawful or unconstitutional."
The judge said that while Boissoin's remarks were "jarring, offensive, bewildering, puerile, nonsensical and insulting," they were not hateful or extreme and that there was nothing in the letter to suggest it was exhorting Albertans to discriminate against homosexuals in areas which fall under provincial jurisdiction. At last report, Darren Lund, who launched the complaint against Boissoin, has not decided whether he will appeal this ruling.
In another religious freedom case in Canada, Christian Horizons, a Christian organization that assists individuals with developmental disabilities, will be appealing a May 2008 ruling by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal (OHRT) on December 15-17. The OHRT ruled that Christian Horizons violated the rights of a former worker, Connie Heintz, by terminating her employment when she revealed that she was a lesbian (click here for more information). The ruling ordered Christian Horizons to compensate Heintz $23,000 in lost wages and to stop requiring its staff to sign an explicitly Christian morality code.
Thank the Lord that the ruling against Stephen Boissoin was overturned. Ask the Lord to give the believers involved in the Christian Horizons case Christ-like endurance as they stand up for their beliefs. Pray that Canada will uphold the religious freedom of its citizens.
