OTTAWA, ON-A long time Liberal support staff worker on Parliament Hill is decrying an April 28 protest by a church-backed gay marriage support group against the Liberal MP for whom she works.

Diane Scharf, executive assistant to Dennis Mills, Liberal MP for Toronto-Danforth, recently blasted the United Church of Canada (UCC) for backing Canadians for Equal Marriage (CEM) coalition.

The coalition, which is targeting MPs who support the man-woman definition of marriage, is backed financially by the United Church, the Canadian Labour Congress, EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians) and the Canadian Race Relations Foundation.

Partly because Scharf’s complaint, the United Church has disassociated itself from CEM and its candidate-targeting campaign until after the expected federal election.

Mills, a devout Catholic and major organizer of the papal visit to Toronto two years ago, has not actively opposed the legitimization of same sex-unions but told the House of Commons he supports traditional marriage and family values.

For that stance he is one of 145 current and hopeful MPs the CEM is recommending for defeat. The organization maintains that almost twice as many candidates support same-sex marriage as oppose it. Both the United Church and the CEM insist true equality requires that same-sex unions must be defined in law as marriages.

The Toronto-Danforth riding, which Mills has held since 1988, is a critical battleground, because his main opponent in the coming election is NDP leader Jack Layton, an outspoken advocate of gay rights. The riding has one of the highest concentrations of gay and lesbian voters in Canada.

Scharf is well known around Ottawa for her work in organizing Bible study and prayer groups for parliamentary support staffers. Mills often describes her admiringly as the "Mother Teresa of Parliament Hill."

She is also a lay leader in the influential and evangelically-leaning Dominion-Chalmers United Church, a congregation of 400 located a few blocks from The Hill. She says her disappointment with her denomination’s apparent attack on her boss caused her to raise the issue with Richard Chambers, the UCC’s associate executive minister for justice, global and ecumenical relations.

In a written reply to Scharf, Chambers confirmed that the UCC’s general council, the denomination’s highest court, affirmed same-sex civil marriage in 2002. He maintains, however, that the church’s role is "non-partisan" and "does not take specific stands regarding individuals running for office."

He continues: "Please be assured that the United Church did not participate in the recent protest outside Dennis Mills office and will be engaging CEM in a frank, grave review of any future advocacy work and the United Church’s participation."

According to an April 28 Toronto Star story, Mills, fellow Liberal Dan McTeague and and Conservative Stockwell Day are all being targeted for defeat by the CEM.