Here comes the MPP: Ontario bill could let politicians officiate weddings
Cut the red tape and cue the white dress.
Two Ontario Progressive Conservative members of provincial parliament are proposing to remove a layer of bureaucracy and let MPPs such as themselves more easily officiate weddings.
A private member's bill from Matthew Rae and Dave Smith would automatically grant an MPP the authority to solemnize marriages after they give written notice of their interest, without having to go through a municipality as with most non-religious officiants.
"Not every single municipality actually has their clerk do weddings, so if you want a civil marriage, you have to go through a justice of the peace or a judge," Smith said.
"When you look at some of the more northern, more remote, more rural ridings, you don't have as easy access to a justice of the peace or a judge and I just saw this as one of those things that's almost a red tape thing. We have the ability to make that change. It really doesn't have a negative effect. So why not do it?"
Rae said engaged couples sometimes reach out to elected officials — including himself — to request that they solemnize their marriage, thinking they're granted that ability automatically, like judges.
"Some are family and friends that live in my riding," he said.
"Obviously, they think it would be kind of neat to have their local MPP perform the ceremony ... [it's] just another provincial service that a local member can choose to offer their constituents if they choose to do so. And so it really is just having that little extra special component to your happy day."
Former MPP says he's done more than 70 weddings
Rae personally availed himself of that extra special component when he got married last year, using Bill Walker, the former member of provincial parliament for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, as his officiant.
When it comes to politicians and weddings, Walker is the guy, both Smith and Rae said.
Walker went through the whole regular process for becoming a civil marriage officiant, which includes a designation from a municipal clerk, and estimates he has done more than 70 weddings in just a few years.
"It's humbling, for anybody, to be part of their special day, but especially if you've worked with them, or my goddaughters," Walker said. "It was pretty hard to top those."
Walker's side gig as an officiant — he doesn't take any payment — began with a request from one of his goddaughters.
"[She] thought that we had the right as an MPP to be able to do weddings, because Bill Murdoch, who was my predecessor [as the MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound], had done them up here forever, and I think she just thought it was one of those things you got to do," he said.
"My other goddaughter said, 'Well, if you're marrying her, you've got to marry me."'
It snowballed from there — including other friends, family and Queen's Park staffers — and Walker has about a dozen weddings on tap for this year.
Bill to be further debated in fall
The bill would allow provincial politicians who ask for the authority to perform marriages to keep that power for a full year after they leave office. That way, a snap election as the province saw earlier this year and an unexpected defeat doesn't leave an engaged couple with no officiant.
Most private member's bills that get tabled come from opposition parties, and since this one is from within the government caucus it may be more likely than most to get through, but Rae and Smith said further discussions and debate are expected to be held in the fall.
If the bill does become law, Rae said he isn't sure if he will set out to officiate weddings, but Smith is game.
"I'll probably reach out to the minister if this passes, and ask for permission to do it," he said. "Any time you can break down barriers for people who want to spend their life together, then why not do that?"
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