Civil Marriage Act

Civil Marriage Act
An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes
Citation	S.C. 2005, c. 33
Enacted by	House of Commons of Canada
Enacted by	Senate of Canada
Date assented to	20 July 2005
Date commenced	20 July 2005
Legislative history
Bill introduced in the House of Commons of Canada	Bill C-38, 38th Parliament, 1st Session
Introduced by	Irwin Cotler, Minister of Justice
First reading	1 February 2005
Second reading	4 May 2005
Third reading	28 June 2005
Committee report	16 June 2005
Bill introduced in the Senate of Canada	Bill C-38
First reading	29 June 2005
Second reading	6 July 2005
Third reading	19 July 2005
Committee report	18 July 2005
Keywords
Same-sex Marriage
Status: Current legislation

The Civil Marriage Act (full title: "An Act respecting certain aspects of legal capacity for marriage for civil purposes") was legislation legalizing same-sex marriage across Canada. At the time the bill became law, same-sex marriage had already been legalized by court decisions in all Canadian provinces except Alberta and Prince Edward Island, as well as in the territories of Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

It was introduced as Bill C-38 in the first session of the 38th Canadian Parliament on February 1, 2005. It passed the House of Commons on June 28, 2005, and the Senate on July 19, 2005. The Act became law when it received Royal Assent on July 20, 2005.

As with all federal legislation in Canada, the Act is written in both French and English, with equal force. The French title is Loi sur le mariage civil, or in full, Loi concernant certaines conditions de fond du mariage civil.

This is the Act's official legislative summary:

The short title of the act (Civil Marriage Act) is defined in Section 1. Sections 2 through 4 form the substance of the Act, and were the key points of contention during its debate in the House of Commons and the Senate. Section 3.1 was added with an amendment during the committee stage, and was subsequently adopted by the House of Commons.

The remaining sections are "consequential amendments" that simply adjust the wording of existing acts to conform to this one.

As a government bill, C-38 represented the official position of Paul Martin's Liberal government, and the cabinet were thus bound to vote in its favour. Liberal backbenchers and members of the Conservative Party and Bloc Québécois had a free vote. In accordance with its party policy on LGBT rights, the New Democratic Party (NDP) whipped its members in favour. Bev Desjarlais defied the whip and was removed from her critic position. (She was not nominated for the next election by her riding association, and subsequently chose to sit as an independent for the remainder of the session.) Conservatives tended to vote against the Act, while Bloquistes tended to vote in favour. At least two cabinet ministers stepped down to vote against the bill. Joe Comuzzi resigned just hours before the final vote on the Act, and Martin lamented his leaving. As expected, Comuzzi voted against the Act.

...
Wikipedia