Article on some same sex marriages in Canada not being legal

[tink23]

Here's an article from The Toronto Star about how some same sex, non-resident couples who traveled to Canada to get married are not considered legally married if same sex marriage isn't legal in their home country.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1114430--same-sex-marriages-of-non-resident-couples-not-legal-federal-justice-department
Will this have an affect on immigration and spousal sponsorship? What does this mean for couples with 1 Canadian resident/citizen and 1 non resident who had a same sex marriage?

 

[Isometry]

I'm reading an article I found here.

But speaking in Halifax Thursday, the Prime Minister said the issue was not on the agenda for his majority Conservatives. “We have no intention of further re-opening or opening this issue,” Stephen Harper told reporters when asked about The Globe and Mail's report.

The government's hard line has cast sudden doubt on the rights and legal status of couples who wed in Canada after a series of court decisions opened the floodgates to same-sex marriage. The mechanics of determining issues such as tax status, employment benefits and immigration have been thrown into legal limbo.

In a response to Ms. McCarthy's court application, federal lawyer Sean Gaudet tied the federal position to two central propositions. First, he said, couples who came to Canada to be married must live in the country for at least a year before they can obtain a divorce. Second, same-sex marriages are legal in Canada only if they are also legal in the home country or state of the couple.

“It is appalling and outrageous that two levels of government would be taking this position without ever having raised it before, telling anybody it was an issue or doing anything pro-active about it,” she said. “All the while, they were handing out licences to perform marriages across the country to non-resident people.”

I'm incredibly pissed about this. Any word on whether this will affect same-sex couples who are in process for immigration?

 

[CharlieD10]

Nothing is being said (so far) regarding the impact on immigrating couples, as at least one of them must be a Canadian and therefore would be resident and able to obtain a divorce. I think the big problem in this case is that neither of the litigants in the divorce is resident in Canada, so obtaining a divorce in Canada is not possible for them, although they were able to get married in Canada. This issue was raised back when they decided to make it legal for same-sex couples to marry in Canada, all the while knowing that while it is legal in Canada, it could very well be illegal/void in their countries of habitual domicile. Marriage is not tied to residence, but divorce is. Catch-22.