Open Letter to, His Excellency, Mr. Paul Martin, Prime Minister of Canada From the Four Religious Leaders of the Canadian Lebanese Community in Canada

Prot.52/96

February 27/2005

TO The Honorable Paul Martin,  Prime Minister of Canada,

 The Parliament, Ottawa, Ont.

Your Excellency,

Your government’s project to modify the definition of marriage to include the union of two same sex persons, profoundly troubles us and questions our conscience and faith. Our duties and rights as citizens caring for the common good obliges us to disagree with you regarding this matter.

 The Canadian Charter of rights and liberties included in the constitutional law of 1982 begins with the following affirmation:

“Expected that Canada is founded on principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law...”.

 Regarding this matter we can affirm that no recognized religion in Canada, and the whole world the matter fact, understands marriage other than the union of a man and a woman. We are intimately convinced that the idea of marriage between two same-sex persons was not present at all in the spirit and mind of the legislator at the time when the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms was adopted.  This is all the more true as the "omnibus bill", which had decriminalized homosexuality, had been adopted before the Charter in 1969, and P. Pierre E. Trudeau by defending this bill, had affirmed that "what occurs privately between two consenting adults, is not a matter of law but one of morality ».

However, marriage has from time immemorial been the domain of law, natural, civil, and religious. Moreover in its opinion, the supreme Court of Canada did not specify that the legislation proposed by the government to redefine marriage, is necessary in order to conform to the Charter, nor that the traditional definition of marriage is contrary with this same Charter. Five years ago in June 1999, Parliament reaffirmed the definition of marriage as being the union of a man and of a woman, excluding any other than person.

We, spokespersons for communities of Lebanese origin; Maronite, Sunni, Shiite and Druze of Canada, sincerely believe that the government project to redefine marriage to include the union of two same-sex persons, not only shocks the conscience of many citizens and faithful and in particular members of our communities, but risks, if adopted to have in an unforeseeable way, considerable cultural and social consequences on the family which has from time immemorial and according to all evidence been the foundation of society.

We would like to reiterate, your Excellency, our personal opposition and that of our faithful on  the redefinition of marriage and we are convinced that in this area, equal rights does not mean uniformity.

We urge you, your Excellency, to believe in our great interest for the common good and we sent you our best regards.

Signatories

Bishop, Joseph Khoury, Maronite Catholic Church in Canada. Montreal Canada

Sheik Nabil Abbas, Shiite Community Of Montreal, QC. Canada 

Sheik Said Fawaz, Sunni Islamic Community of Montreal, Canada

Sheik Hassan Ezzedine, Druze Community of Montreal, QC. Canada