Ottawa — Homelessness is a much more pressing social issue than same-sex marriages, Tory leadership hopeful Peter MacKay said Tuesday.

Mr. MacKay, a Nova Scotia MP and member of a parliamentary committee investigating whether gays and lesbians should be able to tie the knot, raised the issue at a hearing in Ottawa.

He asked the justice committee's first witness, Pierre Turcotte of Statistics Canada, if the agency knows how many homeless people are in Canada after the hearing was told 68,000 gays or lesbians are living in common-law relationships. That statistic was gleaned for the first time in Canada's census last year and accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of the country's population.

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"In my mind, it comes down to a simple matter of priorities," Mr. MacKay said in an interview later. "I would suggest that homelessness is a bigger issue, as one example. I walked by four people in sub-zero temperatures on my way here this morning."

Fellow Tory MP Scott Brison, who is expected to take on Mr. MacKay in the leadership race, declared recently that he is gay. Mr. Brison is set to announce his official candidacy Thursday. He was not available to comment Tuesday.

Justice Minister Martin Cauchon, who is contemplating a bill that would allow gays and lesbians to marry, has told the parliamentary committee to report by April. Mr. Cauchon gave the committee the job last summer after the Ontario Divisional Court declared that a federal ban on gay marriage is a violation of the equality guarantees in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The court ruling, which the federal government is appealing, gave the Justice Department two years to rewrite its marriage laws to include gays and lesbians. The government is considering four options: leave marriage the way it is, change the definition to include same-sex couples, get out of the marriage business entirely and leave it to churches, or establish civil registries that allow gays and lesbians to be recognized without a marriage ceremony.

Mr. MacKay said the definition of marriage should include opposite-sex couples only. He said he does not oppose registering same-sex relationships as "domestic partnerships" or civil-registration ceremonies for gay couples. However, he said, he does not think it is appropriate for the federal government to use the law to force churches to recognize same-sex marriages.

"The churches' view of marriage is sacrosanct," said Mr. MacKay, who is seeking to replace retiring Tory Leader Joe Clark. "I think it would cause an uproar to force religious organizations to recognize this.

"In the minds of Canadians, when it comes down to priorities, there are issues that must register higher. I don't think this stuff even ranks in the Top 10."

But John Fisher, executive director of ÉGALE Canada, an organization representing gays and lesbians, said the numbers in last year's statistics are irrelevant to the committee's business.

"We are concerned that some members might use the numbers to minimize the issue," he said. He is expected to testify at the hearing next week. "No one would put a figure on how many people have a disability to determine whether their rights are protected. It's ultimately about the government doing the right thing."

Committee member and Bloc Québécois MP Réal Ménard, who is gay, said the issue comes down to a matter of human rights.

"If the value of marriage is important to heterosexuals," he told the hearing, "it could be just as important to a number of homosexuals."