Today there was some news about same sex marriages in Canada being reversed.

Much of the reporting of this issue has been salacious and false. Let me clear the air:

No ruling has been made on this matter, and we don't expect a ruling from an

Ontario court for another month (if they don't defer to feds).

The PMO has made no statement on this issue, except to state that they will make one.

The Justice Minister has commented that they will be looking to revise the divorce act.

The application made to an Ontario court was for a non-resident couple who are seeking a divorce (they were married here). Canadian law mandates that no divorce can be granted to a couple in Canada unless they have been resident here for at least one year.

In responding to the application which was made, a crown attorney has made three arguments: a) no divorce can be granted because the couple has not been resident for the requisite amount of time; OR (b) the couple has no standing to challenge the constitutional validity of that requirement because they are not canadian; OR (c) no divorce can be sought because the marriage wasn't legal in the first place.

These are alternative legal arguments and simply represent the view of this crown attorney who is simply trying to do his job - Canadian law does not permit this couple to be divorced. It is difficult to reject the first two arguments as they are rooted in law. The third alternative is likely a mistake.

There has been no reversal in policy in this country, and a crown attorney's statements, last time i checked, do not make law.

There is every expectation within the legal community that the divorce act will be amended to do away with the residency requirement in limited circumstances (such as these). I would further expect the PMO to make their position well known in very short order.