Ottawa — Gay couples in British Columbia are preparing to wed today, when a court ruling is expected to make the province second to Ontario in allowing same-sex marriages.
But religious and conservative groups announced yesterday in Ottawa that they will appeal an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling to the Supreme Court of Canada in an effort to stop same-sex marriages.
The B.C. Court of Appeal will release a ruling today that will determine whether same-sex couples can be married immediately in the province.
Anthony Porcino and Tom Graff want to exchange vows outside the Vancouver courthouse as soon as the decision is released.
They said in a statement yesterday: "We believe in the public commitment and support of relationships, the richness of the public-private nature of that act of community and the personal belief in the equality of all Canadians."
Last month, an Ontario Court of Appeal ruling upheld a lower-court decision finding the restriction of marriage to opposite-sex couples unconstitutional.
Although similar court rulings in B.C. and Quebec gave the federal government time to implement the court decisions, the Ontario ruling was immediate. The federal government announced it would not appeal the ruling and would introduce legislation to allow same-sex marriages.
In an earlier decision, the B.C. Court of Appeal amended the common law to define marriage as the union of "two persons to the exclusion of all others." The new definition was suspended until July 12, 2004.
But gay couples in B.C. who initiated that court challenge asked the court to reopen the appeal after the Ontario Court of Appeal ruling.
The federal government consented to the request on June 24 in a written submission to the B.C. Court of Appeal. The other defendant in the case, British Columbia, did not respond because it does not have constitutional authority over marriage laws.
"We're pretty confident that it means they're going to amend the date because no one is opposed to the issue," said Craig Maynard, a B.C. spokesman for Egale, a national gay-rights group. About 100 same-sex couples have married in Ontario.
"It would run against common sense to expect anything but a positive ruling," said Kathy Lahey, a Queen's University law professor who represented the couples seeking the suspension. "Everything looks like a go."
The federal government will not appeal the Ontario ruling but is seeking advice from the Supreme Court of Canada in what is known as a "reference" on how to reword the 137-year-old definition of marriage. The government will ask whether it is constitutional for legislation to state that religious institutions cannot be obliged to perform same-sex marriages and whether marriage is the responsibility of the federal government to the exclusion of that of the provinces.
A free vote in the House of Commons in the fall will determine whether the bill becomes law.
Focus on the Family, Real Women of Canada and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, including Catholic and Muslim congregations, said they will appeal the case to the Supreme Court because the federal government did not.
"We intend with this coalition to defend marriage as it has existed for millennia," said Bishop Jean-Louis Plouffe, president of the Ontario Conference of Catholic Bishops. "Marriage cannot be allowed to slip quietly away."
Gwendolyn Landolt of Real Women of Canada said: "The template of society is man and woman working together. They're [same-sex couples] arguing we're the same. We're different."
The groups had been granted intervenor status in the Ontario court challenge but are not parties to the case. Legal experts said the groups would find it extremely difficult to become parties having the power to appeal a decision.
"We're kind of shocked. I don't think there's a legal foot for them to stand on. It really looks like an act of desperation," said Gilles Marchildon, executive-director of Egale in Ottawa.
"We'll fight to the end," said Mohammed Ashraf of the Islamic Society of North America. "Whether we succeed or not, only God knows."
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