Uncertainty Surrounds Canadian Parliament's Upcoming Vote on Same-Sex 'Marriage'

Uncertainty Surrounds Canadian Parliament's Upcoming Vote on Same-Sex 'Marriage'
By Chad Groening
December 5, 2006

(AgapePress) - The head of a Canadian pro-family organization says he believes Wednesday's vote to restore traditional marriage in Canada is going to be close -- but he hopes Parliament will ultimately follow the wishes of the vast majority of Canadians.

Same-sex "marriage" was legalized in Canada three years ago; since then, thousands of homosexuals from Canada and other countries have been legally married there. But when Stephen Harper campaigned for prime minister in the subsequent election, he promised voters that he would bring the marriage issue back before Parliament for a free vote.

Tomorrow (December 6) Harper -- who is reportedly a born-again Christian -- will fulfill that pledge, as members of Parliament (MPs) decide if they want to restore the traditional definition of marriage as only a union between a man and a woman. The question contains a provision that, if passed, the new position would not affect civil unions and would not reverse existing same-sex marriages.

Brian Rushfeldt, co-founder and executive director of the Canada Family Action Coalition (CFAC), is impressed with the way Harper has kept his campaign promise. He describes the new prime minister as "a man of integrity."

"If he promises that he will do it, he will do it," says the pro-family leader. "And I think the timing of it, in our estimation, is perhaps not the best timing, although I don't know that there's a good timing."

Rushfeldt hopes the MPs will follow the wishes of most Canadians. He expects the vote to "reasonably close" and is hearing that just a few votes either way could decide the final outcome.
"Certainly, members of Parliament clearly know what their constituents want, and that's to reopen and revisit and redefine marriage," he says. "So if they vote following the wishes of their constituents, I believe we'd win this hands down."

But if pro-family forces come up short on the vote, the CFAC spokesman says his fellow countrymen are going to have to "fire a bunch of members of Parliament and put some pro-marriage people in government [come] next election."

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper indicates doubt over whether the measure will pass. But Dr. Charles McVety, CFAC president and one of the key proponents of restoring traditional marriage, says his group expects Parliament to study the impact on same-sex marriage on religion, regardless of the results of the free vote.

Chad Groening, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.

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