Vote Marriage Canada was a socially conservative political lobbying group organized for the Canadian federal election in 2006 aiming at the overturning of the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in Canada.
Social conservatism is the belief that society is built upon a fragile network of relationships which need to be upheld through duty, traditional values and established institutions. This can include moral issues. Social conservatism is generally skeptical of social change, and believes in maintaining the status quo concerning social issues such as family life, sexual relations, and patriotism.
Same-sex marriage in Canada was progressively introduced in several provinces by court decisions beginning in 2003 before being legally recognized nationwide with the enactment of the Civil Marriage Act on July 20, 2005. On June 10, 2003, the Court of Appeal for Ontario issued a decision immediately legalizing same-sex marriage in Ontario, thereby becoming the first province where it was legal. The introduction of a federal gender-neutral marriage definition made Canada the fourth country in the world, and the first country outside Europe, to legally recognize same-sex marriage throughout its borders. Before the federal recognition of same-sex marriage, court decisions had already introduced it in eight out of ten provinces and one of three territories, whose residents collectively made up about 90% of Canada's population. More than 3,000 same-sex couples had already married in those areas before the Civil Marriage Act was passed. Most legal benefits commonly associated with marriage had been extended to cohabiting same-sex couples since 1999.
Vote Marriage was founded by former Members of Parliament Pat O'Brien (Liberal) and Grant Hill (Conservative) in 2005. It opposed same-sex marriage, and was officially non-partisan. There were 100 incumbents endorsed – 84 Conservative, 11 Liberal, 4 Bloc and 1 Independent.
Patrick Wayne "Pat" O'Brien, is a former member of the House of Commons of Canada. Elected as a Liberal, he ended his career in 2005 as the independent Member of Parliament (MP) for London—Fanshawe in London, Ontario.
The Liberal Party of Canada is the oldest and longest-serving governing political party in Canada. The Liberals form the current government, elected in 2015. The party has dominated federal politics for much of Canada's history, holding power for almost 69 years in the 20th century—more than any other party in a developed country—and as a result, it is sometimes referred to as Canada's "natural governing party".
Grant Hill is a former Canadian Member of Parliament for the Conservative Party of Canada (2004), and a former member of the Canadian Alliance (2000–2004) and the Reform Party of Canada (1993–2000).
Forty-seven of the forty-eight western and northern candidates endorsed by Vote Marriage Canada on 18 January 2006 were members of the Conservative Party. The other was independent Bev Desjarlais, formerly of the New Democratic Party. [1]
Beverly Faye Desjarlais was a Canadian politician. She represented Churchill in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2006, initially as a New Democrat and later as an Independent after losing her party nomination in late 2005. She had lost the confidence of the NDP after she had voted against the Civil Marriage Act, legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. She later worked as a departmental aide to Conservative Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson.
Scott A. Brison is a Canadian former politician from Nova Scotia. Brison served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the riding of Kings-Hants from the 1997 federal election until July 2000, then from November 2000 to February 2019. Brison was originally elected as a Progressive Conservative but crossed the floor to join the Liberal Party in 2003. He served as the Minister of Public Works and Government Services from 2004 until 2006 in the Paul Martin government. He was President of the Treasury Board of Canada in Justin Trudeau's ministry until January 2019.
The New Reform Party of Ontario was a minor provincial political party in Ontario, Canada, that promoted a populist, fiscally conservative, socially conservative, libertarian, and localist ideology.
Thomas William "Tom" Wappel is a Canadian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Commons from 1988 to 2008, representing the Toronto riding of Scarborough West and its successor riding of Scarborough Southwest. He did not seek re-election in the 2008 general election.
Craig B. Chandler is a Canadian businessman, pundit, and political and religious activist, with social conservative views such as those expressed when he expressed negative opinions regarding Alberta legislation permitting Gay-Straight Alliances (GSAs) throughout provincial schools. He is a co-founder and executive director of the Progressive Group for Independent Business. He was a candidate at the federal 2003 Progressive Conservative leadership convention and has also been a candidate for Member of Parliament in Ontario and Member of the Legislative Assembly in Alberta.
The Conservative Party of New York State is a political party founded in 1962. The Party was founded due to conservative dissatisfaction with the Republican Party in New York. Since 2010, the Conservative Party has held "Row C" on New York ballots—the third-place ballot position, directly below the Democratic and Republican parties—because it received the third-highest number of votes of any political party in the 2010, 2014, and 2018 gubernatorial elections.
The 2006 Canadian federal election was held on January 23, 2006, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 39th Parliament of Canada. The Conservative Party of Canada won the greatest number of seats: 40.3% of seats, or 124 out of 308, up from 99 seats in 2004, and 36.3% of votes: up from 29.6% in the 2004 election.
The 39th Canadian Parliament was in session from April 3, 2006 until September 7, 2008. The membership was set by the 2006 federal election on January 23, 2006, and it has changed only somewhat due to resignations and by-elections. The Parliament was dissolved on September 7, 2008, with an election to determine the membership of the 40th Parliament occurring on October 14, 2008.
This article lists the members of the 38th Parliament of Canada and how they voted on Bill C-38, now known as the Civil Marriage Act. Bill C-38 amended the Marriage Act of Canada to recognize same-sex marriage (SSM). The 38th Parliament began with the federal election of June 28, 2004, and was dissolved on November 29, 2005. It was dissolved prior to the election of January 23, 2006. The legislation was later challenged by the members of the 39th Canadian Parliament.
Michael David Chong is a Canadian politician. He has represented the riding of Wellington—Halton Hills in the House of Commons of Canada since 2004. He served in the cabinet of Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and Minister of Sport, as well as the President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada from February 6, 2006, to November 27, 2006. Chong is a member of the Conservative Party of Canada, and was a candidate for its leadership in 2017.
Bradley Ryan "Brad" Trost is a Conservative Member of Parliament in the House of Commons of Canada, representing the riding of Saskatoon—University. Before being elected, Trost worked as an exploration and mining geophysicist. Trost holds a B.Sc. in Geophysics and a B.A. in Economics, both from the University of Saskatchewan. He married in August 2012. Between August 2016 and May 2017, Trost campaigned to become Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, placing fourth. Trost lost the renomination as the party candidate for his riding during the 43rd Federal election on March 10 to Corey Tochor, former speaker of the Saskatchewan Legislature.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario is a political party in Ontario, Canada. It governed the province from 1943 to 1985 and from 1995 to 2003, and currently forms the Official Opposition in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
The Conservative Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2006 Canadian federal election. Some of these candidates have separate biography pages; relevant information about other candidates may be found here.
This article lists the members of the 39th Parliament of Canada and their voting records in regards to the Civil Marriage Act. Bill C-38 amended the Marriage Act of Canada to recognize same-sex marriage (SSM). The 39th Parliament was elected at the federal election of January 23, 2006. The Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, who was then leader of the opposition campaigned on holding another free vote on the issue, after one was held in the 38th Parliament to approve the Act. Although Harper expressed a hope to reinstate the opposite-sex only definition of marriage, he promised not to use the notwithstanding clause. A number of legal experts contend the clause would need to be invoked if parliament was to ban or restrict same-sex marriage in light of provincial court decisions on the matter, which have all handed down the same decision: barring same-sex marriage is inconsistent with the guarantees contained in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a part of the Constitution of Canada.
The Liberal Party of Canada ran a full slate of 308 candidates in the 2006 federal election, and won 103 seats to form the Official Opposition against a Conservative minority government. The party had previously been in power since 1993.
The Civil Marriage Act received royal assent on July 20, 2005. During the 2006 federal election campaign, Conservative leader Stephen Harper pledged to re-open the issue of same-sex marriage should his party form government. Following the Conservative victory in the election, Harper promised to bring the matter to the House of Commons of Canada "sooner than later" in the form of a resolution on whether parliament should consider a new law banning same-sex marriage. Should such a resolution pass, a new bill would have to pass both the House of Commons and the Senate of Canada in order to become law.
By-elections to the 39th Canadian Parliament were held to fill vacancies in the House of Commons of Canada between the 2006 federal election and the 2008 federal election. The Conservative Party of Canada led a minority government for the entirety of the 39th Canadian Parliament, though did increase their number from by-elections.
The 2012 Tandridge District Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Tandridge District Council in Surrey, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative party stayed in overall control of the council.
