The leaders of three of Canada’s four opposition parties, as well as all three Liberal Party leadership candidates—one of whom will be the next prime minister—said May 28 that same-sex couples should have access to marriage. The announcements were made at a press conference staged by the national gay lobby group Egale.
Support for gay marriage was expressed by Bloc Québécois leader Gilles Duceppe, New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton, Progressive Conservative Party leader Joe Clark, and by Liberal leadership candidates Sheila Copps, who is the current minister of Canadian heritage; John Manley, who is the current deputy prime minister; and Paul Martin, a former finance minister.
‘With three out of four opposition leaders supporting equal marriage for same-sex couples, together with all Liberal leadership candidates, it is clear that discrimination against same-sex couples’ right to marry will soon be a thing of the past,’ said John Fisher, Egale’s director of advocacy.
‘This unprecedented support from our national leaders confirms the unanimous judgments of courts across Canada, and recent opinion polls which demonstrate majority support amongst Canadians for providing same-sex couples with the equal right to marry.’
Justice Minister Martin Cauchon has until June 30 to decide whether to appeal a unanimous ruling by the British Columbia Court of Appeal, the province’s highest court, that the federal ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.
‘We’re confident that Minister Cauchon will heed the clear directions of the courts, the public, party leaders and his own peers and will introduce legislation to affirm the equal right of same-sex couples to marry,’ said Egale Executive Director Gilles Marchildon.
The fourth opposition party, the Canadian Alliance, does not support gay marriage.