August 2002

Dear Editor:

As most of your readers will know, on July 12^th, 2002, the Ontario Divisional Court ruled (2-1) that excluding same sex couples the institution of marriage is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional in Canada. Furthermore, unless appealed, the government would have two years to alter our existing laws so as to reflect and recognize this controversial decision.

While the decision itself was surprising to me, I was even more surprised by the reaction of our provincial government. According to the media, our Premier was OK with the idea that homosexual couples should be permitted to enter into the state of holy matrimony. In fact, the provincial government refused to appeal this decision, choosing rather to point the finger of blame to Ottawa. In short, even though registering marriages is a provincial responsibility, had Ottawa not acted as it did, Ontario would have sat idly by and permitted this massive social change to occur without so much as a whimper.

Fortunately our local MP, Paul Steckle and the federal Minister of Justice both supported a motion in the House of Commons that declared marriage to be a “union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.” Even more importantly, the federal government quickly decided to launch an appeal, to the Supreme Court of Canada, to ensure that marriage remains a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.

While I strongly applaud the actions of Mr. Steckle and the federal government on this issue, what I would like to know is why has our provincial representative failed to take a stand on this important matter? Does Helen Johns echo the Premier’s support of same sex marriage?

Sincerely,

Paul Steckle, M.P.

Huron-Bruce