june26-july2

	Prime Minister Paul Martin says any government in Canada that wants to use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to reverse Parliament's recent decision to legalize same-sex marriage will have to deal with the consequences. "I believe this is an issue that Canadians want to put behind them," he said at a news conference June 29.
	"The gap between the rich and the poor is not narrowing," Prime Minister Paul Martin told reporters June 29. "It's getting worse." He made the comment in rebuking world leaders for making headline-grabbing promises to increase aid to the world's poorest countries and then abandoning them. Martin is facing pressure to make good on Canada's pledge to boost aid to poorer nations to 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income. Only a day before Martin's news conference, the Catholic bishops of Canada called on the PM to announce a firm timetable for reaching the 0.7 per cent mark, before the G-8 leaders meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, July 6-8. Martin said he hopes to reach 0.7 per cent eventually but won't make the promise if he doesn't think it's achievable.
	Prime Minister Paul Martin smiles at rare news conference in Ottawa June 29. On the previous day, the House of Commons began its summer break after passing Bill C-38, the controversial bill that legalized same-sex marriages across Canada.
	Bruce Clemenger, president of the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and Janet Epp Buckinham, EFC’s director of law and public policy, pose outside the House of Commons June 28 after MPs passed the same-sex marriage bill. “Parliament is embarking on a social experiment that removes the language of husband and wife from the law and eclipses its ability to champion the rights of children to know and be raised by a mother and a father," Clemenger said.

	"It is a sad day for Canada, for democracy, freedom and religion," says Charles McVety, head of the Defend Marriage Coalition. He called passage of the historic same-sex marriage bill in the House of Commons June 28 "The slippery slope of the moral degradation of our society."
	Manitoba MP Bev Desjarlais was the only NDP member to vote against the government's same-sex marriage bill in the House of Commons June 28. Party leader Jack Layton immediately removed her from her position as foreign affairs critic.
	Manitoba MP Bev Desjarlais is mobbed by reporters after voting against the government's same-sex bill in the House of Commons June 28. Party leader Jack Layton, who had ruled his caucus was not free to vote against the legislation, immediately removed Desjarlais from her position as foreign affairs critic.
	NDP leader Jack Layton, who had ruled his caucus was not free to vote against the same-sex bill June 28, immediately stripped MP Bev Desjarlais of her post as foreign affairs critic after she voted against the legislation.
	Joe Comuzzi, the junior cabinet minister who resigned his post earlier in the day, offers sticks of gum to reporters on his way into the House of Commons June 28 where he voted against his party's same-sex bill. Prime Minister Paul Martin had ordered all cabinet ministers to vote in favor of the legislation. Comuzzi said doing so would violate an election promise he made to his constituents
	Justice Minister Irwin Cotler speaks with reporters after the House of Commons voted 158-133 to pass the historic same-sex marriage bill. The Conservatives will have to be honest if they want to use the notwithstanding clause of the Charter to overturn the decision, he said. "They're going to have to acknowledge that they want to override the (Charter), override constitutional-law decisions in nine jurisdictions in this country, override a unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada, override the rule of law in this country."
	The United Church of Canada was a supporter of the federal government's same-sex marriage bill, passed in the House of Commons June 28 by a vote of 158-133. In a pastoral message following the vote, the church's Moderator, the Right Rev. Dr. Peter Short, said "Although our hearts may be surprised in different ways - some dejected, others elated - I am inviting all to recognize that we are living in a surprising moment, one that calls for compassion for one another and faith for the journey as our church makes this passage into a changed world."

File photo	Bloc Quebecois MP Francine Lalonde has tabled a private member's bill in the House of Commons to amend the Criminal Code to legalize assisted suicide. She says parliamentarians have a "moral obligation" to respect the wishes of those suffering with terminal illness.


File photo	The Canadian Union of Public Employees is urging it members to lobby their MPs in favor of same-sex marriage. National president Paul Moist said "It is time to end years of discrimination against gay and lesbian couples." The appeal by the union's national executive called on its 540,000 members to contact their MPS to immediately pass Bill C-38.
File photo	Dr. Albert Schumacher, president of the Canadian Medical Association , says the CMA will be discussing privatization of the health care system at the organization's annual meeting this summer. The CMA supports the publicly funded health care system but Schumacher said it has a responsibility to examine all options including privatization.