Ottawa, Canada, Sep 2, 2004 / 22:00 pm
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin appointed two judges to the Supreme Court of Canada, whose past rulings indicate that they favor same-sex rights.
The appointments of Justice Louise Charron and Rosalie Abella were approved by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson Aug. 30.
Canadian pro-family organizations are upset with the decision. They say the two appointment are simply Martin’s way of filling the court with judges who support same-sex marriage and of pushing through same-sex marriage legislation, which the Liberal government had presented to the Supreme Court for judicial review last year.
The Supreme Court is expected to come back with a judgment on the constitutionality of the same-sex marriage bill in October.
The 58-year-old Abella has been an outspoken supporter of same-sex rights. While on the Ontario Family Court, she wrote a judgment that said the word “spouse” in the Income Tax Act includes same-sex partners.
Charron, 53, wrote the majority judgment in a case that allowed same-sex couples to receive alimony while serving on the Ontario Court of Appeal.
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler told a press conference that the two judges were selected based on merit and not on the basis of ideology. He also denied that the two women justices were selected to increase female representation on the nine-member Supreme Court. These two appointments bring the number of female judges to four.
The Canada Family Action Coalition and Real Women of Canada both denounced the appointments in written statements. They accused the government of appointing two radical activists, who will use the law to shape Canadian social policy.
“These two judges from the Ontario Appeal Court have a long history of injecting themselves into the media spotlight for radical decisions on matters of fundamental social policy,” said the Canada Family Action Coalition.
According to Real Women of Canada, both judges are “known to be in support of the gay agenda,” and their appointments “seal the fate of the same-sex marriage reference case,” in Canada to be heard in October.
Abella and Charron succeed Justices Louis Arbour and Franck Iacobucci.
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