(Canada's)Federal justice minister wants to explore idea of same-sex civil unions

OTTAWA (CP) - Justice Minister Martin Cauchon is expected to release a document this week exploring the possibility of federal civil unions for same-sex couples, The Canadian Press has learned.

Cauchon will submit four options for gay marriage: modifying the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples; maintaining the status quo; eliminating the role of the federal government in marriage and transferring the responsibilities to religious authorities; or the creation of federal civil unions.

Sources close to the minister said Cauchon is leaning toward the civil union option. Cauchon's plan would allow same-sex couples across the country to enter into a union recognized by society, and he would be able to implement it within a reasonable amount of time.

Inspired by models used in Quebec and France, this civil union would allow gay and lesbian couples to be legally recognized without having to modify the definition of marriage. It is this modification that angers opponents who want marriage to remain a heterosexual institution.

The same sources said a civil union plan may help avoid a raucous debate in the House of Commons, where even the Liberal Party is divided on this question.

For example, when Prime Minister Jean Chretien modified about 60 laws two years ago to eliminate the differences in the obligations and rights of a heterosexual or a homosexual partner, he had to reaffirm his support of the current definition of marriage to get the laws adopted.

Cauchon, who said in August that he wanted to "act quickly" on gay marriage, could use the civil union plan to resolve the issue while avoiding an all-out battle on the Commons floor.

At this time only same-sex couples in Quebec and Nova Scotia can enter into a union and be recognized in their province, but they are recognized nowhere else.

Cauchon discussed the subject with several leaders of the gay community in Montreal at an informal meeting last Monday. Laurent McCutcheon, president of the telephone help-line Gai Ecoute, attended the meeting.

"It was a chance for us to tell the minister what our preoccupations are," McCutcheon said in an interview.

Cauchon heard at that meeting that the Montreal gay community wanted nothing less than a re-definition of marriage. McCutcheon said the marriage issue remains the lone legal frontier same-sex couples have to cross to be considered equal.

"We already have civil unions in Quebec," McCutcheon said. "We're not about to ask for another one."

McCutcheon was tight-lipped about how Cauchon reacted to what he heard from the gay community leaders, calling it a private meeting.

"I think if someone went to the trouble to come here and listen to us, it's because he's sympathetic (to the cause)," McCutcheon said.

Meanwhile, the federal government is appealing two judgements - one in Ontario and the other in Quebec - where the court found in favour of same-sex couples who claimed the current definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman went against the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Last August, when he announced the federal cabinet would consult Canadians on the question through the creation of a parliamentary committee, Cauchon said the appeals were a way for him to buy some time.

"The permission to appeal allows me to keep all of the government's options open," he said, adding that the consultations show "a change in the government's approach, without a doubt."

The government argued in the courts that homosexuals do not meet the "fundamental requirements" of marriage and do not conform with the "natural foundations" of the institution because the ultimate objective in a same-sex marriage is not procreation.

Once again, the Liberal Party forces Canadians to re-enact a particular scene from Deliverance.

eliminating the role of the federal government in marriage and transferring the responsibilities to religious authorities;

This one may be the worst of the lot. Muslim polygamy, anyone?

If this goes through look for a headline that says, "Alberta goes it alone".

Is this like Vermont?

"Same-sex marriages are not currently legal in any state. However, in April 2000, Vermont approved landmark legislation to recognize "civil unions" between same-sex couples, granting them virtually all the benefits, protections and responsibilities that married couples have under Vermont law."

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