What's new:

On July 17, 2003, the Canadian government referred a draft bill on marriage and the legal recognition of same-sex unions to the Supreme Court of Canada. A "reference" to the Supreme Court is the way in which the government asks the Court to give its opinion on an important question.

The draft bill contains a new definition of marriage for civil purposes as "the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others." The draft bill also respects religious freedoms by not compelling religious officials from performing a marriage between two persons of the same sex that is contrary to their religious beliefs.

Once the government has received the Supreme Court opinion, a bill will be introduced in the House of Commons and will follow the normal legislative process to becoming law in Canada.

For the full government statement, please see http://canada.justice.gc.ca/en/index.html

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