Canadian government says it will not recognise foreign gay marriages

“Neither party had the legal capacity to marry a person of the same sex under
the laws of their respective domicile – Florida and the United Kingdom,” he
said. “As a result, their marriage is not legally valid under Canadian law.”

Also, he said, married couples are required to live in Canada for at least one
year to qualify for a divorce.

The case, which is to be decided next month by an Ontario Superior Court
judge, could affect more than 5,000 couples from the United States and other
countries who in the past six years have flocked to Canada to marry.

A 2004 court ruling effectively legalized same-sex marriage in Canada on the
basis that denying gay couples the right to marry was discriminatory. A year
later Ottawa passed a bill enshrining it in law.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s party in its first year in office in
2006 proposed a ban on gay nuptials but the resolution to “restore the
traditional definition of marriage” was rejected by lawmakers.

Harper said on Thursday that his administration would not revisit gay marriage
laws. “We have no intention of further reopening this issue,” he said.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson added later that he would look at “options to
clarify the law so that such marriages performed in Canada can be undone in
Canada.”

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