(Ottawa) Internal documents obtained by The Globe and Mail confirm that the Conservative government was preparing an amendment to the Criminal Code last fall dealing with same-sex marriage under the heading of "Freedom of Religion."

The Department of Justice released 1,200 pages of government records in response to a request under access to information law. The records are almost entirely edited.

The Globe requested all documents relating to policy options aimed at protecting religious rights and freedom of speech in relation to the same-sex marriage debate.

But the few phrases that were not blacked out reveal Department of Justice officials were drafting new legislation dealing with religious rights and gay marriage.

[...]

Asked yesterday about the documents, a spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said the government "has no intention of bringing forward such legislation."

When asked whether such legislation could be introduced if the Conservatives had a majority, spokeswoman Genevieve Breton said: "I'm not going to speculate on what can happen in the future, but at this point, it's definitely not there."

[...]

The response to The Globe's request was delivered to the newspaper's Ottawa office on Friday afternoon as MPs were leaving town for a two-week recess.

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Ms. Hitch's [the Justice Department's senior counsel] reference materials included a private member's bill on religious freedom, since defeated in the Alberta legislature, from Conservative MPP Ted Morton, with links to socially conservative websites such as campaignlifecoalition.com; lifesite.net; evangelicalfellowship.com and a website that does not currently work called "http://www.thescaryliberals.com/blog."

[...]

Mr. Toews was personally involved, sending e-mails to his deputy minister and top political aides on the issue. The e-mails are mostly blacked out.