Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Canadians for Equal Marriage

I've received a request for action originally from the Canadians for Equal Marriage on at least three different email lists today, so I'll repost it here. If you are a Canadian concerned about equal marriage, please take your time to let the MPs know that you want this legislation passed!

Here's some info from their site:

We are potentially within weeks of passing equal marriage legislation, so opponents have ratcheted up their campaign and are flooding MP's offices. We need you to send a message to all MPs. Just click here!

Opponents of the bill are actually claiming that the legislation is being fast-tracked. Two years after the first legal same-sex marriages and Parliament still hasn't dealt with the issue. And it's been a busy two years -- cross-Canada hearings of the Justice Committee, eight court decisions, one Supreme Court reference, one election campaign, three House of Commons votes, six months of debate on the Hill. It may be a lot of things, but fast isn't one of them!

Equality opponents have been clear on their strategy. They want to run out the clock on this Parliament. They know a solid majority of current MPs support the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They want to bring down the government before it has an opportunity to pass equal marriage legislation.

The government has clearly stated it will pass the equal marriage bill before summer, even if that means extending Parliament past its scheduled June 23 end date. But anti-equality Liberals are putting huge pressure on Paul Martin. We have to make sure he doesn’t back down!!

MPs are being flooded with messages from a vociferous minority that wants a decision delayed. We need you to send a message to all MPs. Even better, call your MP! Get contact info by finding the info page for your MP at Step 1.


As I think I've said before on this site, my take on the role of the state in regulating relationships is probably quite different from the "equal marriage" camp, particularly those coming from a liberal perspective, but I still think this legislation is an important step and needs to be supported.

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