Friday, June 20, 2003

Recently the three-person Ontario Court of Appeal declared Canada's legal definition of marriage as "the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others" unconstitutional. The Court declared that the definition discriminates against homosexuals and lesbians.

On June 17th, the Minister of Justice, Martin Cauchon, announced that the federal government will not appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. He should have appealed it. As recently as 1999, at the request of the government, Parliament reaffirmed that "marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, and that Parliament will take all necessary steps to preserve this definition of marriage in Canada." He should have striven to defend Parliament, i.e., the citizens of our country. The new definition will include the right of same-sex marriage.

Democracy has suffered a lethal blow through this. The Court deliberated in private, consulted no one and changed the law regarding the most fundamental relationship in society that has, since the Garden, been instituted and acknowledged as a union between a man and a woman. The Liberal Government has abandoned the democratic process and allowed an unelected, unaccountable provincial court to define marriage, when that decision is the responsibility of Parliament alone. This government has shown its contempt for the institution of Parliament, and all Canadians should be outraged by this attack against democracy. This is both an abdication of responsibility and a gross affront to all democracy-loving Canadians.