reading, and was reintroduced in several subsequent parliaments. In 1999, the House of Commons overwhelmingly passed a resolution to re-affirm the definition of marriage as "the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others". The following year, this definition of marriage was included in the revised Bill C-23, the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act 2000 (), which continued to bar same-sex couples from full marriage rights. In early 2003, the issue once again resurfaced, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights proceeded to undertake a formal study of same-sex marriage, including a cross-country series of public hearings. Just after the Ontario court decision, it voted to recommend that the federal government not appeal the ruling. Civil status is of provincial jurisdiction in Canada. However, the definition of marriage is a matter of federal jurisdiction. On June 17, 2003, Prime Minister Chrétien announced that the government would not appeal the Ontario ruling, and that his government would introduce legislation to recognize same-sex marriage but protect the rights of religious groups to decide which marriages they would solemnize. A draft of the bill was issued on July 17. It read:Marriage, for civil purposes, is the lawful union of two persons to the exclusion of all others. Nothing in this Act affects the freedom of officials of religious groups to refuse to perform marriages that are not in accordance with their religious beliefs. The draft bill was subsequently referred to the Supreme Court of Canada. On September 16, 2003, a motion was brought to Parliament by the Canadian Alliance (now the Conservative Party) to once again reaffirm the heterosexual definition of marriage. The same language that had been passed in 1999 was brought to a conscience vote, with members asked to vote for or against the 1999 definition of marriage as "the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others". Motions are not legislatively binding in Canada, and are mostly done for symbolic purposes. The September vote was extremely divisive, however. Prime Minister Chrétien reversed his previous stance and voted against the motion, as did Paul Martin (who later became prime minister) and many other prominent Liberals. Several Liberals retained their original stance, however, and thus the vote was not defined purely along party lines. Controversially, over 30 members of the House did not attend the vote,