Nanny

VANCOUVER (CP) - While proponents of same-sex marriage legislation want to see the bill passed before a federal election, some play down the immediate impact of losing the legislation if the Liberal government is defeated in a non-confidence vote.

"Nearly 90 per cent of Canadians live in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is the law of the land (through court rulings)," said Alex Munter of Canadians for Equal Marriage.

"So if the plug is pulled on Parliament then equal marriage remains the law of the land in 90 per cent of Canada."

Still, Munter and same-sex marriage proponents would prefer the federal legislation was passed.

The bill would die if an election is called and if the Conservative were to win, it's certain they would not introduce same-sex marriage legislation. The Conservatives want a bill that would reaffirm the traditional definition of marriage as an exclusive union between one man and one woman.

Many constitutional lawyers say that would undermine the equality rights of gays and lesbians under the Charter of Rights.

An election would almost certainly serve the purpose of making the issue a feature of a spring campaign.

More than 3,000 gay couples have tied the knot in Canada since courts in seven provinces and the Yukon cleared the way.

An Environics poll released in April suggests 76 per cent of Canadians say it's time to settle the issue in Parliament. The results are based on a recent survey of 2,022 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 per cent, 19 times out of 20.

Canadians for Equal Marriage are part of a coalition with some heavy hitters that favour the legislation and include Egale Canada, the United Church and the Canadian Labour Congress.

"We don't want it to die," said Marie Clarke Walker, the labour congress's vice president. "It doesn't need to take this much time (to pass)," she said, blaming the Liberals as far back as former prime minister Jean Chretien for taking too long to deal with the issue.

"A law will legitimize it further and the other provinces will fall in line."

There seems to be a perception among many across the country that all Muslims and Sikhs oppose the legislation but that is not the case, said Tarek Fatah of the Muslim Canadian Congress.

"It's a human rights issue," said Fatah, who said that minorities expect Canadians to support equal rights legislation affecting them. "So if we don't stand up for gays and lesbians, who will?"

The Canadian Islam Congress, however, opposes the legislation while the World Sikh Organization is supportive for the same reasons as Fatah expressed,

But Sikhs are also divided, said Baltev Kalsi, secretary of the B.C. branch of the Canadian Ramghara Society.

"We don't allow it, not in our religion," said Kalsi. "Equal rights doesn't mean it has to be a man to man or woman to woman."

The Catholic Church has strongly urged Ottawa to scrap Bill C-38 and maintain the traditional definition of marriage.

Most Rev. James Weisgerber, the archbishop of Winnipeg and a spokesman for the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, hopes the bill will die.

"Speaking for myself, I would certainly be happy to see this particular project of law die," said Weisgerber.

"I would hope that, given a breather, people may have another look at this . . . to define marriage as an equal relationship between people of the opposite sex."

Weisgerber argues the definition of marriage is tied to the ability of a couple to have children.

"If you detach procreation from the essence of marriage then of course it becomes (a human rights issue) but that is the whole point: what has the tradition of marriage been in our culture?"

Just prior to his election, Pope Benedict published a new book calling on Europe to return to its Christian roots and condemned same-sex marriage.

But his message doesn't seem to be stemming the tide.

Spanish lawmakers recently passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. If it gets Senate approval, the predominantly Catholic country would join the Netherlands and Belgium in allowing gay marriages.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics...020285-cp.html