INDEPTH: SAME-SEX RIGHTS
The Supreme Court and same-sex marriage

On May 5, 2005, the government's same-sex marriage bill passed a second reading, moving it closer to becoming law.

The legislation came to a vote on June 28, 2005. In the lead-up to that vote, cabinet ministers who opposed the bill were urged to vote against it. MP Pat O'Brien, who left the Liberal party over the issue, said some Liberals in cabinet had voted in the past to uphold the traditional definition of marriage.

In the end, Bill C-38 passes by a 158-133 margin, with support from most Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.

The bill became law less than a month later, on July 20, 2005. After being passed by the Senate, the same-sex marriage legislation received royal assent as Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, acting in her role as deputy governor general, signed it into law.

Canada become the fourth country to recognize gay marriage, after the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/samesexrights/