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Canadian Same-Sex Marriage Bill Final Vote Timing Still Uncertain

Situation changing constantly says Liberal MP

OTTAWA, June 22, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – With the Liberal government attempting to pass a motion to extend this parliamentary session indefinitely beyond Thursday’s scheduled adjournment, the timing of the final vote on same-sex marriage Bill C-38 has become more uncertain than ever. Pro-family Liberal MP Paul Szabo told LifeSiteNews.com this evening that the situation is “constantly changing” as the government and pro-family forces jockey their strategies.

A key to whether the final vote takes place this session or in the fall appears to be in the hands of the Bloc Quebecois and the 30 to 35 pro-family Liberals who have been fighting against their party over C-38.

The Bloc has said it would oppose the motion to extend the sitting of parliament because the motion does not include specific mention of the same-sex marriage bill which the Bloc insists must be brought to a final vote before the summer recess.

The pro-life, pro-family Liberals are struggling to keep up their determination in the face of what the National Post, Sun Media and others are calling “extraordinary” tactics by their party leadership to totally exhaust opponents to the bill and ram C-38 through its final stages.

Liberal House leader Tony Valeri has indicated the government’s commitment to pass C-38 before the summer recess “at all stages”. That is, the government is committed to getting the same-sex marriage bill passed through third reading in the House and passage through the Senate followed by Royal Assent, all before the summer recess, no matter how many more days parliament is forced to sit until midnight each night.

The numbers indicate the bill cannot be stopped at this time if it came to a final vote. Also, many pro-family MPs have become weary of the exhausting struggle, Paul Szabo says most of the pro-family Liberals are now committed to trying to defeat the extension motion. Szabo says the vote on that motion will take place Thursday evening. Defeat of the extension motion might end up delaying final debate on the bill until the fall unless House leader Valeri follows through on his threat to invoke closure to end debate and force a final vote. Valeri might also spring other sudden surprises on C-38 opponents.

As the Toronto Sun reported today “Valeri will ask the Speaker to recall MPs from their summer vacation” to pass both the last stage of the budget and C-38 – “a measure” says the Sun, “used in the past only during national crises”. However, the government will have to weigh the political impact of taking such another “extraordinary” measure to get its way on its unpopular social engineering measure which it bizarrely considers a matter of national importance.

Szabo emphasizes there is always “the possibility of little miracles” yet occurring to cause the C-38 debate to be held over until the fall. He stressed that the Members in the House “are not just MPs now. They represent people” – that is, all their constituents – of whom they know by now a large percentage are opposed to the redefinition of marriage measure. If the bill is put off over the summer, Szabo says, the MPs will be especially accessible to hear their constituents’ views about amendments and other matters related to the marriage redefinition bill.

The strongly pro-family MP emphasized that he and the other pro-family Liberal MPs would appreciate encouragement from Canadians at this very difficult time but that communications should be respectful of their still determined efforts. He indicated that criticism from pro-family Canadians at this time could only be deflating.

Jim Hughes of Campaign Life Coalition, who has been intensely following developments on the C-38 controversy and has been in regular communications with pro-family members on both sides of the House, stresses that “supporters of the family should call in or email or fax messages of encouragement to the pro-family MPs and tell them that you are undertaking special prayers for the success of their efforts”. Hughes adds, “even if you aren’t able to get in contact with any MPs, still pray at this eleventh hour for those ‘little miracles’ that Paul Szabo mentioned”.

SJ

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