Manitoba Court rules in favor of ‘same–sex’ marriage

Manitoba legalized same–sex “marriage” recently, becoming the fourth of Canadian’s ten provinces to change the definition of marriage.

Justice Douglas Yard of the Court of Queen's Bench ruled that Manitoba's law violates Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms and opened the door to homosexual marriages by declaring that Manitoba's current definition of marriage in unconstitutional, according to news reports.

According to the CanWest News Service, this case marks "the first time Ottawa has not opposed, or asked for an adjournment of, a same–sex marriage lawsuit."

This decision comes as a result of a lawsuit filed in August by three Manitoba couples against Manitoba and the federal government.

"The cumulative effect and the overwhelming effect of that judicial authority is to the effect that the traditional definition of marriage is no longer constitutionally valid in view of the provisions of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms," said Judge Yard.

In his decision, he wrote, “The traditional definition of marriage in Manitoba is reformulated to mean a voluntary union for life of two persons at the exclusion of all others.

Same–sex “marriage” is also legal in three other Canadian provinces British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, and the Yukon territory.

Manitoba’s government has chosen not to file an appeal that will allow the province to begin marrying same–sex couples within days.

The Canadian federal government chose some time ago not to take a stand in defense of traditional marriage. In the case of Yukon's ruling this year, Canada's Justice Ministry didn't oppose the case. They did ask however for the case to be adjourned pending a Supreme Court of Canada review of draft legislation that would change the definition of marriage in federal law.

There is sure to be reaction from churches and Christian organizations to this ruling. It will be interesting to see what kind of response will be given. This past summer, Canada's parliament passed a bill that makes speaking out against homosexuality a criminal offense.

Manitoba Justice Minister Gord Mackintosh said his government chose not to fight the lawsuit because it wants the federal government to come up with a law that will apply to everyone.

There's no indication that the other six provinces won't follow suit with this kind of ruling.

The Canadian Supreme Court is expected to rule on a legislation, proposed by the Liberal Party government, which would legalize same–sex “marriage” across Canada on Oct. 6. According to the news reports, pro–family leaders acknowledge that the same–sex "marriage" bill likely has enough votes to pass.