A prominent
Canadian lawmaker joined with two national gay rights groups
at Toronto's City Hall on Friday to recognize the third
anniversary of the legalization of same-sex marriage
in the country. It was three years ago that an Ontario
court of appeal ruled that refusing to allow gay and
lesbian couples to wed was unconstitutional.
According to the
Canadian Press, Federal NDP leader Jack Layton met with
members of the gay rights groups Egale and Canadians for
Equal Marriage, both based in Ottawa, to celebrate the
milestone.
In late June of
last year, the House of Commons passed Bill C-38, which
changed the definition of civil marriage to "the lawful
union of two persons to the exclusion of all
others"--allowing same-sex couples to wed
nationwide.
The country's new
Conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, has said
he will ask MPs to reopen the debate on same-sex marriage
this fall. Harper said he is keeping his campaign
promise to hold a free vote in the House of Commons on
whether the issue should be revisited. (The Advocate)