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Marriage Commissioners in Alberta Given Freedom of Conscience

CALGARY, Alberta, July 26, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Although Alberta has begrudgingly conceded that it will issue same-sex “marriage” certificates in accordance with the newly passed federal Civil Marriage Act, the Alberta government has assured its marriage commissioners that they will not be forced to act against their consciences.

This is a serious problem in most other provinces that have no such protections for those who oppose same-sex “marriage”. The newly passed federal legislation itself contains no such protection and counselors in most provinces can be fired from their jobs for refusing to perform gay “marriages”. Even before the federal legislation had passed dozens of marriage commissioners from provinces that had individually legalized gay “marriage” were forced to resign from their jobs.

According to government officials Alberta will take steps to ensure that marriage commissioners will be available to perform gay weddings. "What we're trying to do now, is ensure that we are doing everything we can to be able to accommodate everyone's rights. We're trying to balance everyone's rights," said government spokesman Kim Hunt.

Premier Klein of Alberta had often spoke of the province’s intention to oppose the same-sex legislation altogether. The province, however, commenced issuing same-sex “marriage” certificates shortly after the legislation passed through Senate.  "It's a sad day for the majority of Albertans who believe in the traditional definition of marriage," Mr. Klein said at the time. "We have to obey the law of the land, and it's unfortunate that such a law would be passed."

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