‘Remain vigilant’

Canadians need to keep a closer eye on what the Conservatives are up to, says a community outreach worker.

A Department of Justice lawyer made a comment last week that same-sex marriages outside of Canada may not be valid. The Canadian Press reported that there are now doubts about the validity of thousands of same-sex marriages conducted in Canada from the United States and elsewhere following a federal twist in a Charter of Rights case launched in Ontario by two foreign women seeking a divorce.

The Liberal government under then Prime Minister Paul Martin made same-sex marriage legal in 2005.

The Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson released a statement last week that the government wasn’t reopening the debate on the definition of marriage. He said the government will change the Civil Marriage Act to allow non-resident same-sex marriages to be dissolved.

"This case today involved the fact that, under current law, some marriages performed in Canada could not be dissolved in Canada,” Nicholson said.

"I want to be very clear that the government has no intention of reopening the debate on the definition of marriage. I will be looking at options to clarify the law so that such marriages performed in Canada can be undone in Canada."

David Belrose, a community outreach worker with Rainbow Health Ontario, said he’s paid close attention to the story since it came out. There’s been a lot of confusion because most of the media haven’t reported the facts. For starters, he said the comments made weren’t a legal judgment but the lawyer’s own opinions.

But since the comments were made from a government lawyer, Belrose said it made him suspicious that the Conservatives may have wanted to backtrack on same-sex marriages.

He said he thinks the government was surprised by the level of outrage from the public on the issue and moved to distance themselves.

“The way this government has backtracked or change things in this country is through sneaky and underhanded ways,” Belrose said.

“The sense had been that equality had been achieved in this country and now there’s a sense that we are going to have to remain vigilant because one can’t be sure what this government will try and do and what changes will try to be imposed or taken away in the future.”

Belrose added the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender is only one issue that Canadians need to keep a close eye on.

“I think everybody who is concerned about what the government is doing, needs to stay alert on all fronts all the time,” he said.