I distributed my Householder publication (January 2005) to households 
in my constituency, wherein I state my position regarding same sex 
marriage.  My Householder is available on my website at
www.johnwilliams.ca   You may also find on my website a copy of my speech 
which I gave at my Town Hall meetings on the issue of same sex marriage.

In closing, I thank you again for writing to me, as I appreciate every 
communication that I receive, regardless of the position expressed.
 

Yours truly,

John G. Williams

Member of Parliament

#2

Thank you for your interest and opinion.  Your input is greatly appreciated and will be forwarded to Mr Alcock  for review

Lyn McCracken
Assistant 1 
Hon. Reg Alcock, M.P.
President of the Treasury Board
Minister for the Canadian Wheat Board
(613) 995-7518
 

>From: Godfrey J LeBlanc [mailto:webmaster@yarmouth.org] 
>Sent: February 9, 2005 7:34 PM
>To: Lévesque, Yvon - Député
 ...snip...
>Godfrey J LeBlanc 

#3

Many thanks for taking the time to write to me on this critical issue.  The same-sex “marriage” issue has generated more phone calls, letters and emails than any issue in my eleven plus years in Parliament.

As you may know, I am a strong advocate of the traditional understanding of marriage and have been an open defender of this institution that is so vital for society and families.  In addition, on October 15, 2004, I introduced Bill C-213, “An Act to protect the institution of marriage”.  It has yet to come up for second reading and it is not anticipated any time soon.

My colleague, Rob Moore, MP also introduced a similar bill to protect the definition of marriage.  However, prior to coming up for second reading in November 2004, the Private Members Business Sub-Committee of the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs deemed the bill non-votable.  It is not known whether my bill, when and if it comes up, will receive the same non-votable status.

Nevertheless, despite obstacles, I believe that each of us has an obligation to do what is within our legitimate power to defend and uphold the traditional understanding of marriage -- for ourselves, our children, families and society in general.

Recently, the Supreme Court refused to rule that the traditional definition of marriage was discriminatory.  In 1991, in another case, they ruled that the institution of marriage was so fundamentally important to society that it was worthy of special protection under the Charter.  This ruling makes the Liberal position purely political, with no Charter basis.

As a result of the Court ruling we intend to introduce amendments to the Liberal Bill to provide protection to traditional marriage, provide an alternative to recognize same-sex relationships and provide much stronger protection for religious institutions under the Religion Rights section of the Charter.  I truly believe this is the wish of most of my constituents and in fact of most Canadians.  I will be supporting our amendments to the Bill and if our amendments fail to pass I will be opposing the Liberal Bill.

Again, thank you for taking the time and effort to write. 

Sincerely, 

David Chatters, MP 
Westlock - St Paul 
Chair, Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics 
Room 611, Justice Building 
House of Commons 
Ottawa, ON.  K1A 0A6 
Ph. 613-996-1783 
Fax. 613-995-1415 
chattd@parl.gc.ca 
www.davidchatters.com