OTTAWA, ON—A bid by the Conservatives to derail the Liberal government’s same-sex marriage bill failed in the House of Commons April 12 by a vote of 164-32, despite help from 34 Liberal backbenchers.

In introducing the amendment to kill the second reading of Bill C-38, Tory leader Stephen Harper said it “fails to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.”

Even though their amendment didn’t pass, the Conservatives are expected to force a spring election before the House can vote on the full bill, making the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples a hot campaign issue.

“The result of the vote was not unexpected,” said Charles McVety, spokesperson for the Defend Marriage Coalition and president of the Canada Family Action Coalition. “The battle has only just begun,” he said in a statement. “Bill C-38 is so radical in its intent, and will be so destructive in its application, that it must be, and will be, defeated.”

The vote in the House came on the heels of the March for Marriage rally on Parliament Hill days earlier that drew an estimated 15,000 people, including dozens of placard-carrying supporters of same-sex marriage who demonstrated peacefully.

Speaking to the boisterous throng of people, hundreds of whom came to Ottawa from Toronto and Montreal aboard dozens of buses, McVety said Bill C-38 is “an anti-marriage bill…that redefines it into something that it never has been, it isn’t today and it never will be.”

Speakers at the rally include religious leaders, members of Parliament and Tory leader Stephen Harper, who said the crowd before him “represents all races, all communities, all ethnic communities; it represent all faiths; it represents all churches.”

Harper added that the Conservatives are committed to upholding in law the traditional definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Ontario Liberal backbencher Pat O’Brien said, “Never have we ever seen such an expression of public statement like we’ve seen here today.” The crowd cheered when O’Brien told them, “There is at least one-third of the Liberal MPs in our caucus that shares my view,” and began chanting “Free vote…Free vote.” Because Bill C-38 is a government bill, cabinet ministers must vote in favour of it.

Alberta Tory MP Jason Kenney said every major international human rights declaration in the world understands marriage as a union between a man and woman. “Those who support traditional marriage are not opposed to human rights,” he added. “We are the true champions of human rights properly understood.”

Roman Catholic Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa said the government “wants sodomy to become part of the norm and we refuse that.” It is clear that “if the government bill passes, we will no longer be able to tell our children that homosexual practices are not acceptable,” he said.

Several of the banners and placards carried by March for Marriage participants referred to Pope John Paul II’s position in support of traditional marriage. Some speakers also paid tribute to the pope, whose funeral was held the day before the rally.

David Mainse, founder of 100 Huntley Street, read from the 1999 biography of the pope, where he is quoted as saying, “If there is no ultimate truth to guide and direct political activities then ideas and convictions can easily being manipulated for reasons of power.” The pope continued, “Democracies risk self-destruction if moral wrongs were to be legally defended as rights.”