The Harper government will change the law to legally recognize the marriages of thousands of foreign gay couples, even if the laws of their home country do not.
The legislative change will apply to all marriages performed in Canada regardless of the laws of the jurisdiction in which the couple live, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson announced Friday.
“I want to make it very clear that, in our government’s view, these marriages should be valid,” Nicholson said at a news conference in Toronto. “We will change the Civil Marriage Act so that any marriages performed in Canada that aren’t recognized in the couple’s home jurisdiction will be recognized in Canada.”
The justice minister put the blame of the recent confusion surrounding the issue on the shoulders of the federal Liberals, the party in power when same-sex marriage was legalized in Canada.
“This is a legislative gap left by the Liberal government of the day when the law was changed in 2005,” said Nicholson. “The confusion and pain resulting from this gap is completely unfair to those who are affected.”
Nicholson’s statement came in the wake of a political firestorm that broke out Thursday after international headlines suggested the Canadian government doesn’t legally recognize the marriages of foreign same-sex couples who were married in Canada because they could not legally do so in their home state or country.
