The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Creighton MP Jeremy Harrison isn't happy about a court ruling expected today to legalize same-sex marriage in Saskatchewan. A Court of Queen's Bench judge is expected to take that route after five same-sex couples challenged the province's definition of matrimony this week. "This is something that should be decided by Parliament, not by unelected judges," said Harrison, a member of the Conservative Party. "This is a political question, this isn't a legal question for the government to abdicate their position completely." Since neither the provincial nor federal government is opposing the court challenge, Saskatchewan stands to become the seventh Canadian jurisdiction to okay same-sex marriages. Despite these provincial rulings, however, Ottawa retains the final say on marriage. The Supreme Court is reviewing draft legislation that would include same-sex wedlock in federal law. See 'Definition' P.# Con't from P.# Harrison believes there's little doubt the high court will approve of the new definition, likely sometime next year, saying two judges were appointed this year "almost solely" because they support same-sex marriage. The MP doesn't believe that decision or the one expected in Saskatchewan today will sit well with his constituents in the Churchill River Riding. "I think there's a very clear consensus in favour of the traditional definition of marriage," he said. "That's something I noticed from one end of the riding to the other. It's an important issue to a lot of people and an important issue to me." Saskatchewan's first same-sex marriage was anticipated as soon as this afternoon. The province is set to join Manitoba, Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, Yukon and Nova Scotia as jurisdictions that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed. Same-sex marriage has been legalized in every province or territory where the constitutionality of banning it has been challenged in the courts.
