Gay rulings stunned Chrétien
Apr 15, 2007

OTTAWA (CP) – Jean Chrétien helped engineer the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but he wasn't prepared for the way the courts used it to overturn something he'd always taken for granted – the definition of marriage as a union of man and woman.

In an interview approaching the 25th anniversary of the Charter, Chrétien said he was taken aback by a series of judicial rulings in 2003 – his last full year as Liberal prime minister – that put a stamp of legal approval on gay and lesbian weddings.

"I was caught by surprise. At the time I was 69 years old, you know, and this way of living was not very (much) a part of my culture." the rest