Rogers became a marriage commissioner in 2005 in response to the many marriage commissioners who resigned after being told that they must perform same-sex marriages or resign from their positions.
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The Saskatchewan Government followed by proposing legislation which would allow marriage commissioners to refuse for this reason. In January 2011, on a reference question, the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled that such a law would be unconstitutional.Marriage Commissioners Appointed Under The Marriage Act (Re), 2011 SKCA 3.
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The provincial Marriage Act, 1995 requires marriage commissioners to pronounce a newlywed couple to be "husband and wife". There are other instances of heterocentric language in the law, namely articles 25(3)(b), 25(7), 32(1)(c) and 35(1)(a) which assume parties to a marriage to be "husband and wife".
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Marriage ceremonies in Canada can be either civil or religious. Marriages may be performed by members of the clergy, marriage commissioners, judges, justices of the peace or clerks of the court, depending on the laws of each province and territory regulating marriage solemnization. In 2001, the majority of Canadian marriages (76.4%) were religious, with the remainder (23.6%) being performed by non-clergy. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Canada nationally since 2005.
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The duties of a Marriage Commissioner or Deputy Marriage Commissioner vary between jurisdictions. Deputy or temporary marriage commissioners are generally empowered to perform Civil Marriage ceremonies during a fixed time and/or in a fixed place. Most often, these are officials for a specific marriage where the couple wants someone special to perform the ceremony, after which their appointment expires. Other times, however, a deputy can be employed by the county clerk to perform civil ceremonies when regular staff are unable to do so or are overwhelmed.
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As the British Columbia Provincial Police were created in 1858 and several municipal police departments were established in the later 19th century and early 20th century, Sheriffs' focus was turned away from policing duties that they initially took on due to a lack of other resources. In the 20th century their role continued to change. Sheriffs, depending on their county, would serve as justice of the peace - allowing them to act as marriage commissioners. They were also empowered to create a posse (posse comitatus or "power of the county") for the apprehension of fugitives.
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However, some officiants, including Gander Mayor Claude Elliott, and Botwood Mayor Jerry Dean said that they would refuse to officiate at such ceremonies.Same-sex ultimatum given to commissioners The Provincial Government warned its civil marriage commissioners, such as mayors or justices of the peace, that they must perform these marriages or resign, as the marriages are now legal. This mirrored an earlier move by the Manitoba Provincial Government. Gordon Young, an evangelical pastor of the First Assembly Church of St. John's, asked the Newfoundland Supreme Court of Appeals to allow him to appeal the ruling that legalized same-sex marriage.
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Both of these couples were issued marriage licences following the court order, and were married in Manitoba. Both Laura Fouhse and Jordan Cantwell are ministers in the United Church of Canada, and in 2015 Jordan Cantwell was elected to lead the Church as Moderator. A controversy emerged shortly after the ruling, when the province's Vital Statistics Office sent letters to the province's government marriage commissioners (not clergy) asking them to return their certificates of registration if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages. The federal Conservative justice critic, Vic Toews, announced he would file a complaint with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission if this policy was not rescinded.
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Such was the case in February–March 2004 in San Francisco, California where dozens of volunteers helped alleviate the backlog of same-sex couples seeking marriages. In some jurisdictions, a civil authority recognised to solemnise marriage (such as the clerk of a county or municipality) is empowered to delegate that authority to one or a handful of marriage commissioners on a long-term basis; in others, the appointments are made by a province or state government agency. Splitting the marriage commissioner tasks from those of judge, city clerk or minister of religion can provide couples more flexibility in choosing a venue for a wedding; instead of bringing the couple to a church, town hall or court house, a local commissioner may use their own transport to go to the chosen site of a destination wedding.
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In the 2004 Alberta general election, Morton won the newly created seat of Foothills-Rocky View and now sits as an MLA for the Progressive Conservatives. In that role, he has advocated for tax cuts, for increased saving of energy revenues, for a lobbyist registry, for fixed election dates, against the 2005 Prosperity Bonus, and against same-sex marriage. He introduced Bill 208 (2006), which would have legislated protections for individuals who oppose gay marriage, allowed provincial marriage commissioners to refuse to perform same-sex marriages, and added an opt-out clause for students and teachers where same-sex marriage is included in the curriculum.Bill-208 This Bill was criticized by some public figures as legalizing discrimination against gays and lesbians, and failed to come to a vote due to procedural tactics employed by opposition members.
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