Toronto Star: Same-sex marriages of non-resident couples not legal: federal justice department
The Harper government is being accused of taking away same sex rights by “stealth” in light of a surprise government decision stating non-resident gay and lesbian couples who flocked to Canada to exchange vows really aren’t legally married after all.
“The narrow interpretation of the law shows that the Harper government is trying to take away same sex rights by stealth, and Canadians need to know that the advances we thought were secure are now under threat from the Harper neo-conservatives,” Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae told the Star Thursday.
According to news reports, thousands of same-sex marriages since 2004 involving couples from outside Canada are in limbo as result of a new position taken by the Conservative government. In a nutshell, government lawyers are arguing in court that if same-sex couples could not be legally married in their home country, then their Canadian wedding is not valid.
The revelation came when a lesbian couple — one from Florida and the other from the United Kingdom — married in 2005 filed for divorce in Toronto but was told by a Department of Justice lawyer that their marriage was not legal in Canada.
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http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1114430--same-sex-marriages-of-non-resident-couples-not-legal-federal-justice-department
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