Civil marriages harder to get

Gradual changes in the duties of Justices of the Peace across Ontario over the last few years have made it more difficult for couples to obtain a civil marriage.
While most Justices of the Peace still have the authority to perform marriages, the ceremonies no longer are scheduled to take place during court time.
Justices are now focusing their efforts instead on core judicial and legal functions.
“To provide the most efficient use of judicial resources, the Ontario Court of Justice has decided that [Justices of the Peace] should concentrate on criminal intake work, such as bail hearings, Provincial Offences Act matters, and municipal by-law matters,” said Brendan Crawley, a spokesperson for the Ministry of the Attorney General.
Crawley noted this decision—made by the Ontario Court of Justice—is independent of the Ministry of the Attorney General and the provincial government.
“Daily assignment and scheduling of judges and [Justices of the Peace] is the responsibility of the courts,” he stressed. “That happens independently of the government.”
While Justices of the Peace no longer are scheduled to perform marriages during court time, they can perform them outside of their scheduled duties, such as on evenings and weekends, if they choose.
However, since the courts decided to no longer schedule marriages in courthouses, the Court Services division of the Ministry of the Attorney General stopped assigning court staff to process the required paperwork.
This means that Justices of the Peace have to take care of the paperwork themselves on their own time—again if they choose to perform civil marriages.
In many municipalities, including Fort Frances, this is leading Justices of the Peace to stop performing marriages altogether.
“They’re not performing marriages at all in Sudbury,” said Rev. Frank Perron, who runs Sudbury Weddings, which provides non-denominational marriage services.
Perron said many of his clients have wanted non-denominational or inter-faith marriages when the partners are of different faiths. But a non-denominational service performed by a minister or member of the clergy is still a religious, not a civil, marriage, he noted.
While legally there is no difference between a civil and a religious marriage, some couples prefer one or the other on principle.
Ministers willing to perform non-denominational marriage ceremonies can be found in many communities, but this still leaves few options for couples seeking a civil marriage.
“My impression is that there has been an increase in interest [for civil marriage],” said Rev. Brian Keffer, minister for the Zion Lutheran Church in Fort Frances.
“I’ve seen couples who, if given a choice, probably would not have come to church [to be married.] But they don’t have a lot of other options,” he remarked.
This lack of options for couples seeking a civil marriage is taking its toll on ministers.
“A lot of clergy these days don’t want to be unpaid civil servants. We’d like the government to be a little more proactive,” Rev. Keffer said.
One solution the provincial government has suggested is the appointment of marriage commissioners who, like Justices of the Peace, would have the authority to perform civil marriages—and their powers would be restricted to that area of law.
However, it may be some time before marriage commissioners become a reality.
“We’ve got an act to amend the Marriage Act,” said Julie Rosenberg, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Consumer and Business Services.
It received Royal Assent in December of last year, but a proclamation date has not been set yet.
Rosenberg said there still are many details to work out, such as how marriage commissioners will be appointed, what qualifications they must have, and which ministry will oversee them.
“There are a lot of significant implementation details that have to be considered. It’s not a simple process,” she noted.
But Rosenberg said the ministry is expecting a proclamation date in the near future. “We will see marriage commissioners in Ontario,” she insisted.
(Fort Frances Times)