Research Project
On March 16, 2000, Bill 202, an amendment to the provincial Marriage Act that exclusively included a heterosexual definition of marriage, was approved by the Legislative Assembly of Alberta. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ Notwithstanding Clause was also cited in the measure. This protected the Marriage Act from being challenged in court for violating Charter rights, including as the equality obligations in Section 15. A declaration shall be effective only for the period of five years from its effective date, subject to the Notwithstanding Clause. This time frame for the Marriage Act ended on March 23, 2005. Premier Klein gave conflicting indications as to whether it would be renewed; in the end, it was not. Ty Lund, the Minister of Government Services, presented a report at the conservative caucus on April 4, 2005, asserting that the federal government alone has the authority to define marriage, not the provinces. According to the report, the government would “needlessly waste time and money” if Alberta renewed the proclamation in the Act by invoking the Notwithstanding Clause.
The Bill 202 modifications to the Marriage Act were removed by the Legislative Assembly in May 2014. References to “husband and wife” were also changed to “spouses” and “or spouse” was inserted to section 8 nine years after same-sex marriage became legal in Alberta. Similar changes were made to numerous other acts. On May 14, Lieutenant Governor Donald Ethell gave the law his royal approval.
