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Tories can't win same-sex battle: MacKay
Last Updated Mon, 27 Jun 2005 13:15:26 EDT
CBC News
Opposition leaders say there's no point trying to block this week's likely passage of same-sex marriage legislation if the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Québécois have thrown their support behind it.
* INDEPTH: Same-sex Rights
Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay.
Members of Parliament begin final debate on Bill C-38 on Monday, the start of what is expected to be the final week before the House of Commons breaks for the summer. The bill establishing the Civil Marriage Act could pass before the weekend.
Conservative deputy leader Peter MacKay says he believes the Liberals will try to invoke closure on the bill's debate, with the co-operation of the NDP and Bloc.
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"I think the bill is going to pass," MacKay told CBC Newsworld in an interview Monday.
"I suspect that the Liberals may invoke closure, which they've done as recently as last week," he said. "The Liberals have banded together with the Bloc and NDP in the past to shut down Parliament and that strategy may unfold again."
Last Thursday, the Liberals used an obscure parliamentary tactic to end debate on the budget amendment bill by gaining support from the Bloc and NDP, catching the Conservatives without a full slate of MPs.
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With most Tory MPs opposed to same-sex legislation, MacKay says the party will try to move some amendments to the legislation.
Specifically, the Conservatives want to make clearer the rights of churches, public officials and other religious institutions to refuse to perform same-sex unions without punishment.
"It's always about balance, it's always about keeping people's rights fair," said MacKay. "That's what this issue should be about – equality under the law. And I think we've strayed a little too far [from] that."
The issue has sparked a strong reaction across the country.
Opponents of same-sex unions held prayer vigils across the country on Sunday, the same day tens of thousands of people gathered in Toronto for the city's annual Pride parade.
NDP Leader Jack Layton rode a bicycle in the parade to show solidarity with the gay community, while Conservative Leader Stephen Harper spoke out against the legislation at a Muslim conference in Toronto.
The bill would legalize same-sex marriage across the country. A number of court decisions in the past few years have allowed such marriages to be performed in eight provinces and one territory.
The new bill means same-sex marriages can also take place in Alberta, Prince Edward Island, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. (Same-sex unions are not performed in Nunavut, but they are recognized.)
The NDP and Bloc support the bill. The Liberals are allowing backbench MPs to vote with their conscience, so as many as 34 Liberals may vote against it.
All but four members of the Conservative caucus are opposed to the bill.
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