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                                             Jan. 30- Feb. 5

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	New Democrat MP Bev Desjarlais (Churchill) plans to vote against the government's same-sex legislation in defiance of her leader's orders. She cites her religious beliefs for the decision.
	Liberal MP Pat O'Brien (London-Fanshawe), who supports traditional marriage, tells reporters Feb. 2 that if cabinet ministers were allowed to vote freely on the government's same-sex bill it could be defeated. He also claims that opponents of the bill were urged by the whip's office to stay away from the House of Commons on the day of the vote.
File photo	Liberal MPs Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest) and Jacques Saada (Brossard Laprairie) clashed over the gay marriage issue during a closed-door caucus meeting Feb. 2, according to witnesses. Wappel, who is opposed to same-sex marriage,  had accused Prime Minister Paul Martin of misleading Liberals into thinking there would be a truly free vote on the issue.
	B.C. Conservative MP James Moore explains to a reporter Feb. 2 the reasons he will support the government's same-sex marriage bill. Moore and colleagues Gerald Keddy, Jim Prentice and Belinda Stronach are the only Tory MPs so far who say they will back the bill.
	New Democrat Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay) sparked an uproar in the House of Commons Feb.2 when he complained that Canadian flag lapel pins are being  made in China. "The lapel pin was a Canadian invention," he said. "Disney's got the Mounties, they gave the Remembrance Day coin to Tim Hortons and now they're giving the flag to China," he said. "They're selling off our cultural heritage like a bunch of roadside hucksters selling hub caps and velvet Elvis paintings."

	Justice Minister Irwin Cotler speaks to reporters after introducing ground-breaking legislation in the House of Commons Feb. 1 to legalize same-sex marriage. "No religious officials will be forced to perform marriages that are contrary to their beliefs," he said.
	The protection for religious freedom in the same-sex legislation introduced in the House of Commons Feb. 1 "is an empty promise," say Evangelical Fellowship of Canada officials  Janet Epp Buckingham and Bruce Clemenger. "It's a sad day when the language of husband and wife is removed from federal legislation," said Clemenger, the EFC president.

(as above)

Rizwana Jafri, president of the Muslim Canadian Congress, welcomes federal legislation to re-define marriage to include same-sex couples. "This legislation is not about religion, it is about fundamental and universal human rights ...." she said.

	Officials of the Muslim Canadian Congress, including president Rizwana Jafri at the microphone, welcome the federal government's same-sex legislation. The Toronto-based grassroots organization urged Muslims and other minority groups to stand in solidarity with gays and lesbians.
	The United Church of Camada has congratulated the federal government for introducing legislation to legalize same-sex marriage ."Marriage will be enhanced, not diminished, religious freedom will be protected, not threatened, and Canadian society will be strengthened, not weakened as a result of this legislation," said Rev. Dr. Jim Sinclair, the church's general secretary.
File photo	Conservative Party justice critic Vic Toews says religious protections in the legilsation on same-sex marriage don't go far enough. "What we are seeing is a consistent pattern," he said. "Whenever equality rights and religious rights collide, equality rights trump."
	In a scrum Jan. 31, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew denies that he said earlier that the Catholic Church should stay out of the government's same-sex marriage debate. Pettigrew blamed the right-wing press and media for misinterpreting his remarks. His original comment, he said, was, "I find that the separation of the Church and the state is one of the most beautiful inventions of modern times."

  Photos from previous weeks