only the federal government who can invoke the notwithstanding clause to maintain the traditional definition of marriage." On June 17, 2003, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien announced that the government would present a bill to grant same-sex couples equal rights to marry. A draft of what would become Bill C-38 was released on July 17, 2003, by Justice Minister Martin Cauchon. Before introducing it to Parliament, the Cabinet submitted the bill as a reference to the Supreme Court (Reference Re Same-Sex Marriage), asking the court to rule on whether limiting marriage to heterosexual couples was consistent with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and if same-sex civil unions were an acceptable alternative. On December 9, 2004, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the marriage of same-sex couples is constitutional, that the federal government has the sole authority to amend the definition of marriage, and the Charter'''s protection of freedom of religion grants religious institutions the right to refuse to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. Following the Supreme Court's decision, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler introduced Bill C-38 on February 1, 2005, to legalize marriage between persons of the same sex across Canada. The Paul Martin government supported the bill but allowed a free vote by its backbench MPs in the House of Commons. Defeat of the bill in Parliament would have continued the status quo and probably incremental legalization, jurisdiction by jurisdiction, via court challenges. This trend could have been reversed only through Parliament passing a new law that explicitly restricted marriage to opposite-sex couples notwithstanding the protection of equality rights afforded by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or by amending the Canadian Constitution by inserting the clause "marriage is defined as being between a man and a woman", as was recommended by several conservative religious groups and politicians. Given the composition of the House of Commons at the time, such a measure would have been very unlikely to pass. Premier Klein proposed putting the question to the public at large via a national referendum, but his suggestion was rejected by all four party leaders. History Court rulings Background In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in M v H that same-sex couples in Canada were entitled to receive many of the financial and legal benefits commonly associated with marriage. However, this decision stopped short of giving them the right to full legal marriage. Most laws