Year In Review - The Top 15 Newsmakers of 2005 - #6

In June of this year, Parliament passed a law which legalized same-sex marriage by a vote of 158-133. This followed a controversial ruling from the Supreme Court which validated same-sex marriage while avoiding the question of whether or not the traditional definition of marriage violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

This vote, which was partially whipped by the Prime Minister, saw a third of his backbench, including MPs such as caucus chair Andy Savor, PS to the Minister of Finance John McKay, PS to the Minister of Foreign Affairs Dan McTeague, and PS to the DPM Roy Cullen all go against the government, as well as every single MP elected from Scarborough. Fissures were opened up in the two other national parties as well, with the NDP bounching Churchill MP Bev Desjarlais and the Tories facing calls of "hidden agenda" when their 99 member caucus, save 4 members, voted against the law.

Canadian moves on gay marriage are also being watched by observers around the world on both sides of the debate. Canadian social conservatives are heavily influenced by their fellow travellers in the States on this and other issues relating to morality (e.g. the Terry Schiavo case). Gay rights activists of all political stripes (e.g. Andrew Sullivan) also see the Canadian debate as a proxy war for their own positions.

This issue is still a political hot potato and will no doubt be raised in this week's debates.