Most Canadians Support Gay Marriage

OTTAWA -- A majority of Canadians supports the gay marriage legislation being debated in their parliament’s upper house and would oppose a Conservative government rollback of the law, according to a new survey.

Fifty-five percent of Canadians think their next government should retain the proposed gay marriage legislation, according to the poll conducted by The Globe And Mail newspaper and the CTV television network earlier this month.

Thirty-nine percent of people surveyed would like the mooted law overturned.

After Canadian parliament’s lower house passed the same-sex marriage bill last month, the opposition Conservative party promised to repeal the law if elected.

The new survey strengthens the claim of Canada’s Liberal prime minister Paul Martin that Canadians do not want to revisit the issue of gay marriage, The Globe And Mail reported.

However, 51 percent of the survey’s 1,000 respondents said they opposed adoption rights for same-sex couples. Forty-six percent supported gay adoption.

The gay marriage bill is currently before Canadian parliament’s upper house. Same-sex marriage is already legal is several Canadian provinces.