As expected the government failed in its attempt to re-open the same-sex marriage debate. The result was 175-123 or 59%-41%. Was is a “free vote”? Not quite, as the NDP and Bloc votes were “whipped” but it was unlikely that many would have opposed it (two Bloc MPs snubbed party discipline by not voting at all). Hopefully, everyone accepts — for the second time — that it is the democratic will of the people’s representatives to put the matter to bed.

For the record, here are the Liberals who voted to re-open the debate:

Raymond Bonin (Nickel Belt)
Gerry Byrne (Humber-St. Barbe-Baie Verte)
Roy Cullen (Etobicoke North)
Jim Karygiannis (Scarborough-Agincourt)
Wajid Khan (Mississauga-Streetsville)
Derek Lee (Scarborugh-Rouge River)
Gurbax Malhi (Bramalea-Gore-Malton)
John McKay (Scarborough-Guildwood)
Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East)
Francis Scarpaleggia (Lac-Saint-Louis)
Paul Steckle (Huron-Bruce)
Alan Tonks (York South-Weston)
Tom Wappel (Scarborough Southwest)

For the record, here are the Conservatives who voted against re-opening the debate:

John Baird (Ottawa West-Nepean)
Lawrence Cannon (Pontiac)
Bill Casey (Cumberland-Colchester)
Michael Chong (Wellington-Halton Hills)
David Emerson (Vancouver Kingsway)
Gerald Keddy (South Shore-St. Margaret’s)
Fabian Manning (Avalon)
Peter Mackay (Central Nova)
James Moore (Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam)
Christian Paradis (Megantic-L’Erable)
Jim Prentice (Calgary Centre-North)
Lee Richardson (Calgary Centre)
Josee Verner (Louis-Saint-Laurent)

For all their talk about delivering results, as many people now realize, the Conservatives have dropped their most important campaign promise — the health wait times guarantee. But, today they are keeping a promise that most Canadians would much rather they didn’t — their promise to re-visit same-sex marriage. Parliament already addressed the issue, after courts across the country said that same-sex couples should be entitled to the same benefits as opposite-sex couples. Much like the Quebec/nation resoltion, the vote today is pure theatrics, which we have come to expect from this government. Harper is forcing the vote in order to look like he still cares about social conservatives (which he has long abandoned). So, the House must endure what is essentially an internal political game to shore up support within his base, but since it stands no chance of passing, there is little broader political damage for his party. What a waste of time. Isn’t it time to let sleeping dogs lie and get on with the business of charting our future, instead of re-living the past?