Now many of you might be wondering why this debate is over now rather than last year when Bill C-38 was passed 158-133. The answer is a complicated one and I want to point out why this was brought forward by the governing Conservatives.

First a little history: The idea of same-sex marriage was brought to the Supreme Court of Canada as an inequality of rights where gay couples were not entitled to the same benefits as other straight couples. The courts understood the rights given to people through marriage were a completely different issue compared to the definition of the term "marriage". The Supreme Court decided not to rule on this case but instead told parliament to bring forward legislation to bridge the gap in rights and to define the term "marriage".

Even though the vote on the government's same-sex marriage bill was to be a free vote, Liberal cabinet ministers were forced to vote for the bill or lose their positions; similarly with the NDP, one party member was banned from the party. Take note: every party had people on both sides of the bill; in fact the Liberal caucus was 50% against gay marriage. This was a truly non-partisan issue even though the Liberals and NDP tried to make it much more than it was.

Little to no debate took place on the issue and even with the majority of Canadians against the Liberal definition of "marriage", the bill scraped through the House of Commons and was quickly confirmed by the very Liberal senate. Nobody was given the opportunity to propose other ideas such as other 1st world, progressive nations. The UK implemented Civil Unions for same-sex couples and France eliminated the term "marriage" from government jurisdiction and left marriage as a religious ceremony. Does this mean Canada is more progressive than France and every other country in the world? Hardly; all it means is Canada didn't understand the issue and pushed a bill through parliament utilizing undemocratic means.

The free vote today was a commitment by the Conservative government to follow through with their campaign promise; a truly free vote on same-sex marriage. Unfortuantely now you have the complication of taking away rights, a ton of already married same-sex couples and hand picked Liberals who agree on this subject in the house of commons (not representing the views of the people). This is one of those situations where you just can't reverse the laws of the land and I am glad to see Prime Minister Harper say "I don't see reopening this question in the future."

The definition of marriage has been redefined; this will finally be a dead issue for the next election and the Conservatives continue to follow through with their campaign promises; simply refreshing for any political observer.