Canadian same-sex marriage bill faces challenge News
Canadian same-sex marriage bill faces challenge

[JURIST] Conservatives in the Canadian parliament plan to introduce an amendment Tuesday to scrap Bill C-38 [official text], which establishes the Civil Marriage Act [Canadian Department of Justice backgrounder] and allows for same-sex unions. Federal Liberals believe they will have enough votes to block the amendment. Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper [official website] argued that the proposed legislation "fails to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others." Conservatives want to substitute a new bill which reaffirms the traditional view of marriage. Justice Minister Irwin Cotler [official bio] said on Monday that the Liberals have enough support to defeat the motion. A recent CBC poll shows that Canadians are deeply split on the issue, with more than half saying that they opposed the Liberals' attempt to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. CBC has more.