Ottawa, Canada, Apr 12, 2005 / 22:00 pm
An amendment to kill the Liberal government’s same-sex marriage legislation failed yesterday.
Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper introduced the amendment to Bill C-38, arguing that the legislation "fails to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others."
About 30 backbench Liberal MPs voted for the amendment, indicating to what point the issue has become divisive within the Liberal party.
The final vote was 164 to 132.
A recent CBC poll suggests Canadians are deeply divided on the issue. Slightly more than half disagreed with changing the definition of marriage to include same-sex couples.