Feds: Canadian Marriages of Foreign Same-Sex Couples Aren't Valid

Coming to Parliament this winter: Gay Divorce?

Update the Second: Well, it looks like the Tories might revisit gay marriage legislation after all, but only so that they can fix it to allow for gay divorce, as well. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson says that the government is "looking at options" to find a way to make sure that people married in Canada, regardless of where they live, can get divorced in Canada as well. As it stands, there is no residency requirement to get married in Canada, but you have to live here for at least a year if you want to get a divorce. Seems like this was a bit of an oversight by the folks who drafted the original legislation that made same-sex marriage legal back in 2005, but that can be forgiven by the fact that that legislation, y'know, legalized same-sex marriage. Looks like we can get back to bickering about the Northern Gateway pipeline tomorrow sooner than originally anticipated.

Update: The prime minister says (for about the billionth time) that his government has no desire to re-open the same-sex marriage debate, which has basically been his position since 2005. CBC handily breaks down the crux of the issue as such:

Canada's marriage laws do not have a residency requirement. But federal divorce laws do.

Same-sex couples who travel to Canada to marry because the jurisdiction in which they live does not marry gays or lesbians run the risk of not having the legal means to divorce if the relationship sours.

Although the problem with the inconsistency between Canada's marriage and divorce rules has been identified before, the wording of the federal government's submission in this case went farther than identifying the residency requirement as a barrier to a divorce in Canada. It also questioned the validity of a Canadian same-sex marriage if the couple does not live in Canada or another jurisdiction which does perform or recognize same-sex marriages.

So it's a bit of a legal gray area that's being figured out here. Stay tuned...

Earlier: If you came to Canada to marry your same-sex partner because doing so would have been illegal in your home country, well, too bad – your marriage could soon be illegal, according to the federal government. A lesbian couple from England and Florida got married in Toronto in 2005, but they, like half of all married couples do at some point, are now seeking a divorce. However, after they applied for the divorce in a Toronto court, the federal lawyer argued that because their home jurisdictions don't recognize gay marriage, their marriage wasn't legal in the first place. Hence, they shouldn't be allowed to get divorced. The lawyer also claimed that any couples seeking a divorce in Canada would have to live in Canada for a year before their wishes can be granted. The Ontario court will rule on the validity of the lawyer's argument next month. According to the Globe and Mail, some 15,000 same-sex couples have been married in Canada since same-sex marriage was enshrined in law in 2005. Five thousand of those marriages were between people who came from different countries to get married here, mostly because gay marriage was illegal in their home countries. The Canadian government has never previously indicated that these marriages are essentially void in their eyes, but, umm ... thanks for letting us know, guys!

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