Same sex marriage bill passes 158-133

I suppose it has been inevitable since Stronach crossed the floor on May 19. The bill amending the definition of marriage passed last night, and is on it's way to the senate. This is an editorial worth reading.

32 Liberals (almost a quarter of the caucus) voted against the bill, as did indies Pat O'Brien and David Kilgour, a "handful" of Bloc MPs, and Bev Desjarlais of the NDP. 3 Conservatives voted for the bill.

Jack Layton "immediately stripped Ms. Desjarlais of her post as party critic for foreign aid and transport and sent her to the Commons backbenches" - because he considered the issue a matter of minority rights. He also hung a banner outside his party office "secular athiests only club". Good for Ms. Desjarlais to stand up for what she believed, but again, it would have been nice if she had done it a bit earlier.

For the record, we are now only the third country to legalize gay marriage. We are more "progressive" than the UN or France (!). We are also only one of three countries to outlaw private healthcare - again, more "progressive" than France! (I know, the Supreme Court ruled that was unconstitutional. Change is coming...)

Liberal Canada belongs to some pretty exclusive clubs, don't you think?