Aiming to push Liberal divisions into the open and derail the government's plan to legalize same-sex marriages, the Canadian Alliance will force a vote on the issue as soon as Parliament returns in September.

However, the Alliance motion could put the government's plan in jeopardy. It is expected to be based on a 1999 motion that passed 216-55 with broad Liberal support, including from Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. The June 8, 1999, motion stated that "marriage is and should remain the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others . . ."

Liberal MP Pat O'Brien said yesterday he was pleased to hear the Alliance is dusting off the four-year-old motion.

Liberal caucus chairman Stan Keyes is also calling on cabinet to drop the word marriage from the legislation, but dismissed the Alliance motion as 'unconstructive' and 'politically simplistic.' Mr. Keyes said he's pushing for the word marriage to be dropped completely from state-sanctioned unions, even those between a man and a woman. "Marriage is for religions to use. It's like the words Kleenex and tissue. They're interchangeable. 'Do you have a Kleenex?' 'No, I have a tissue.' 'Are you getting married?' 'No, I'm having a civil union.' Marriage is universal, but in law, in legislation, when you're creating definitions, why not use a term that everybody can live with?"

NDP MP Libby Davies said she's very concerned that many Liberal MPs appear ready to support a motion such as the one proposed by the Alliance.

"Some of the Liberal backbenchers, I think they're really chickening out," she said. "They're coming up with all kinds of reasons why they can't support the issue of same sex marriage. I think it is very worrying. To a lot of people, this is an issue of the rights of a minority and to have it subject to all of this I think makes it very difficult for people."

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