{"id":29588,"date":"2020-10-28T12:43:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T16:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/?p=29588"},"modified":"2020-10-28T13:36:24","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T17:36:24","slug":"proposed-changes-to-the-marriage-act-in-ontario-whats-it-all-about","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/legal\/2020\/10\/28\/proposed-changes-to-the-marriage-act-in-ontario-whats-it-all-about\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Changes to the Marriage Act in Ontario: What\u2019s It All About?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bill 213 proposes a Code of Practice for marriage officiants \u2013 what does this mean for clergy?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bill 213<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Bill 213<\/a> in Ontario is an \u201comnibus<\/a>\u201d bill which basically means that it has a lot of parts that aren\u2019t necessarily related. This bill has 29 \u201cschedules\u201d each of which proposes to amend a different piece of existing legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Schedule 8<\/a> relates to the Marriage Act<\/em><\/a>. Among other things, the Marriage Act <\/em>sets out who can be married, who can perform marriage ceremonies, how religious bodies are registered, civil marriage, paperwork requirements, and the type of oversight exercised by the government regarding marriage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are two key proposed changes to the Act<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, it would add a Code of Practice.  Every person authorized to solemnize marriages would need to comply with a Code of Practice made by the Minister. To be clear, this Minister is the government Minister who leads the ministry responsible for administration of the Act<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, it modifies the terminology around when the Minister (again, the government Minister) can cancel the registration of a person authorized to solemnize marriage. The change would allow cancellation where it is not in \u201cthe public interest\u201d for the person to continue solemnizing marriages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the change all about?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

The reality is that we don\u2019t really know. At this point, there is nothing in the Bill that tells us what problem may have prompted the change, and the debate in the legislature (at last check!) didn\u2019t touch on this change at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we jump to any conclusions or make assumptions about the ability of clergy to perform marriages, it\u2019s important to get as much information as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is CCCC doing?<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Because there is an entire lack of clarity about exactly what the Code of Practice could look like or when the public interest would apply to cancel a registration, CCCC has written to ask for clarification and detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Specifically, CCCC asked:<\/p>\n\n\n\n