On September 16, 2004, Justice Douglas Yard of the Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench declared that the current definition of marriage was unconstitutional. The judge said that his decision had been influenced by the previous decisions in B.C., Ontario and Quebec. This decision followed the suits brought by three couples in Manitoba requesting that they be issued marriage licences. Both the provincial and federal governments had made it known that they would not oppose the court bid. One of the couples, Chris Vogel and Richard North, had legally sought marriage in a high-profile case in 1974 but had been denied. The other couples were Stefphany Cholakis and Michelle Ritchot, and Laura Fouhse and Jordan Cantwell.
A controversy emerged after the ruling, when the province's Vital Statistics Office sent letters to the province's government marriage commissioners (not clergy) asking them to return their certificates of registration if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages. The federal Conservative justice critic, Vic Toews, announced he would file a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission if this policy is not rescinded. (CBC News) (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2004/11/11/samesex_041111.html)
A Winnipeg Free Press survey (2/6/05) showed that of the 14 Manitoban MP's, 8 were against gay marriages, 5 were for and 1 could not be reached.
External links
Same Sex Marriage in Canada (http://samesexmarriage.ca)
Manitoba is located in the longitudinal centre of Canada, although it is considered part of Western Canada.
Manitoba was unusual in its leap to provincial status.
John A. Macdonald introduced the Manitoba Act in the Canadian House of Commons and pretended that the question of province or territory was of no significance.
Same-sex marriage was originally legalized as a result of court cases in which provincial or territorial justices ruled existing bans on same-sex marriage unconstitutional.
According to the Constitution of Canada, the definition of marriage is the exclusive responsibility of the federal government—this interpretation was upheld by a December 9, 2004 opinion of the Supreme Court of Canada (Re Same-Sex Marriage).
However, despite the passage of the Civil Marriage Act into law, the revised immigration policy (as of October 2005) still considers all same-sex marriages which took place outside Canada (e.g., The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain) to be invalid.
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