Pushing the boundaries of human rights protection: Equality and the recognition of same-sex relationships

In June 2005, shortly after the Canadian Parliament’s House of Commons passed legislation that defined marriage so as to include same-sex couples, New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton expressed the view that ‘Canada is now sending out a signal that it is possible to really provide full equality to people with different sexual orientation and to celebrate those differences. . . . I think it will sound a real clarion call around the world . . .’.1