At the political level, the federal Conservative Party of Canada initially expressed an intention to amend the bill to restore the traditional common-law definition of marriage and establish a parallel regime for gay and lesbian couples (28) In their view, such a scheme would withstand Charter scrutiny,(29) despite broad legal opinion to the contrary (30) Following passage of Bill C
-38 by the Commons, Conservative spokespersons voiced doubt about the bill’s effectiveness in protecting religious freedoms, and indicated the same-sex marriage issue could be revisited as an election issue or by a future Parliament (31) Immediate provincial r
...[+++]esponse to Bill C-38 emanated largely from Alberta, with reports of the government’s political determination to defend the traditional definition of marriage, and its intention to weigh options toward that end.