Pagans In British Columbia

[Earth Walker]

British Columbia is the only province in Canada that
recognizes Pagan handfastings as legally binding
marriages!

http://www.avatarsearch.com

Many, many links....too many to list here.

[Amethyst Rose]

What if you get handfasted outside of BC, but then move to BC? Does your priest/priestess have to give you a marriage certificate and all that, or is the handfasting enough???
Sorry.... I could go look it up, but I'm lazy.... :)

[Earth Walker]

Originally posted by Amethyst Rose
What if you get handfasted outside of BC, but then move to BC? Does your priest/priestess have to give you a marriage certificate and all that, or is the handfasting enough???
Sorry.... I could go look it up, but I'm lazy.... :)

Good questions. I'll see what I can find out for you. :)

[Earth Walker]

I have received no replies from the LIEberals, and have found
nothing from surfing......hmmmm.....what to do....??????

[Earth Walker]

I just got this answer from Jenny Kwan, NDP MLA for
Vancouver-Mt. Pleasant.

In B.C., "religious ceremonies are performed by a religious
representative of your choice, as long as they are registered
with the British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency under the
Marriage Act." This means that any priest/ess who was registered under the Vital Statistics Agency could perform a legal
handfasting ceremony. So far as I know, there is a Wiccan
fellowship (the Aquarian Tabernacle Church -- I believe they also
have a chaplain at UVic) registered with Vital Statistics, but I
don't know about anyone else. For more info, I'd suggest
checking out the Vital Statistics Agency website at:
www.vs.gov.bc.ca/marriage

I'm not sure of the exact details, but I would assume that any
legal marriage carried out elsewhere in Canada would be
recognized in B.C. -- but I would suggest confirming this with a
lawyer if you want to be sure.

Also, I'm not aware of any regulations or laws which specifically
apply to Pagan Rituals, my understanding is that Pagans are
subject to the same regulations as all other faiths.

Oh, and also you should be aware that before anyone can get
married in B.C., one needs to get a marriage license.
You can find out how/where to get them on the Vital Statistics
website.

Hope this is helpful,
Kate Riecken
Constituency Assistant to Jenny Kwan, MLA

[Amethyst Rose]

Ah, cool. Thanks :)