22
tebruary 20.2004
1 T, T
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Wildlife (_pnservation
Hosted By the Oregon Zoo and The Audubon Society of Portland
Meet the leaders in environmental conservation!
Includes spectacular photographs and images.
Tuesday
APRIL 27th
Tuesday
FEB 24*
Carl Safina
Kennan Ward
Carl Safina followed albatrosses
around the world while researching
his book, Eye o f the Albatross. He will
share what their survival teaches us
about the changing oceans. $10/58
Amazing images from internationally
renowned wildlife photographer.
$10 general admission/$8 for members of
host organizations, students and seniors.
Tuesday
M AY 25*
| ¡ ¡ Tuesday
^ 4 * MARCH 23"
Stephen L Buchmann
Gerry Ellis
Buchmann's program to conserve
traditional Mayan beekeeping in
tropical forests. S10/S8
Globio's never-before-seen footage
of baby pandas in China. S15/S10
Lectures will be held in the
Oregon Zoo's Cascade Banquet
Center and begin at 7:00 pm.
For inform ation or tickets call:
503-226-1561 xO
Uffio /¡p ;
A IIKV IC I O f MITHO
i
CANADA
A
former member o f the British G ilum hia
Cabinet has married his male partner.
Full same-sex marriage was legalized in the
Canadian provinces o f British Colum bia and
Ontario last year by their respective highest
courts. Member o f the Legislative Assembly Ted
Nebbeling, the minister o f state for the C o m
munity Charter and the 2010 O lym pic hid until
last month, married his partner o f 32 years, Jan
Holmherg, in November, The Vancouver Sun
reported Jan. 26.
T he paper said it was “ believed to be the first
same-sex marriage o f a Cabinet minister any
where in the world.” “ W e thought it was a great
opportunity to renew our com m itm ent togeth
er,” Nebbeling said.
British Colum bia Premier G ordon Campbell
shuffled his Cabinet on Jan. 26 and did not re
appoint Nebbeling. Campbell said the decision
was unrelated to N ebbeling’s wedding.
A member o f Parliament who made disparag-
/ \ ing remarks about gays has been dumped
by his political party.
In November, Canadian Alliance MP Larry
Spencer told The Vancouver Sun: “ I d o believe it
was a mistake to have legalized [gay sex]. I just
wish that there was some way that society could
stand up and say, ‘This is not right.’ [If] anylxxJy
that used C olgate toothpaste, their life
expectancy was lowered by 10, 15 years, what do
you think would happen to G d g a te tix>thpaste.?
It would be outlawed. W ell, we know that’s what
happens to men living a gay lifestyle.”
Spencer, who represents Regina, Saskatche
wan, also claimed gays stage “conven tions” to
plot the seduction o f children. “ For this group o f
people to express themselves sexually, they’re
going to have to d o the recruiting a n d ...it’s
going to com e by seduction,” he said.
As a result o f these remarks, the Ginservative
Party o f Canada— which was created in D ecem
ber by the merger o f the Canadian Alliance and
Progressive Gm servative parties— voted Feb. 4
that Spencer is no longer welcom e in its ranks.
Should he seek re-election in his district, he will
have to mn as an independent.
Sponsored by
w w w .oreg on zoo.org
^
BUY SEASON TICKETS AND SAVE
$40 general admission
$30 for members of host organizations,
students and seniors
Ted N ebbeling is believed to be the w orld’s
first Cabinet minister in a same-sex marriage
^•***1»’"
he Montreal Police Service will begin test
ing new recruits for H IV and rejecting
th (»e w ho are positive, local media reported
Jan. 24-
Current officers will not be tested. A city
spokesman said the tests are necessary to protect
public health and save money.
T
he British Colum bia G d le g e o f Teachers,
the province’s teacher certification and
regulation body, did not violate the rights o f a
high schcxil teacher it suspended for writing
anti-gay letters to a local newspaper, the provin
cial Supreme Court ruled Feb. 5.
Chris Kempling, w h o teaches in the south
central tow n o f Q uesnel, faces a m onth o f d e
certification that will be postpon ed again
while he appeals to the p rov in ce’s highest
court, the C ourt o f A ppeal. If he loses there,
K em pling promises to push o n to the Supreme
Court o f Canada.
Kempling says his rights to freedom o f expres
sion and religion, as guaranteed by Canada’s
Charter o f Rights and Freedoms, have been vio
lated. T h e G illege o f Teachers says his “discrim
inatory” and “derogatory” statements constituted
unbecom ing conduct that conflicted with the
provincial education system’s com m itm ent to
equality, dignity and respect for gay people.
In ruling against Kempling, Supreme G xirt
Justice Ronald Holmes stated: “ Discriminatory
speech is incompatible with the search for truth....
By publicly linking his private, discriminatory
views o f homosexuality with his status and profes
sional judgment as a teacher and secondary schtxil
counselor, the appellant called into question his
own preparedness to be impartial in the fulfillment
o f his professional and legal obligations to all stu
dents, as well as the impartiality o f the school sys
tem. That in itself is a harmful impact on the
schtxil system as a nondiscriminatory entity.”
B .C . teacher Chris Kempling was suspended
for writing anti-gay letters to a local newspaper
♦3*
total o f 700 same-sex couples got married in
British Gilum bia last year after the G>urt o f
Appeal opened up the institution July 8, The
Vancouver Sun reported Jan. 28.
O f these 1,400 people, 847 hailed from outside
the province. Nonresidents, including foreigners,
can get married in the provinces o f British G ilum -
hia and Ontario— arriving, buying a license and
marrying the same day in either locale.
A total o f 766 o f the newlyweds were U.S.
citizens, and 21 cam e from Australia, the U n it
ed Kingdom, France, H ong Kong, Ireland, New
Zealand and Switzerland. T h e rest came from
elsewhere in Canada— Alberta, Saskatchewan,
Manitoba, Q uebec and the Yukon.
C anada’s federal governm ent has said that
it agrees with the British C olu m b ia and
O ntario court decisions open in g up regular
marriage to same-sex couples in 2003 and that
it will pass legislation legalizing same-sex mar
riage across the country— although new Prime
Minister Paul Martin is seen as less keen on
the idea than his predecessor, Jean Chretien,
w h o made the pledge.
T h e governm ent added a question Jan. 28 to
its pending request for advice from the Supreme
A