Complicating matters, Conservative Party chief Stephen Harper indicated that a Conservative government would work to revive the prohibition on identical-sex marriage if Parliament voted to do so in a free vote. Many Liberal MPs indicated that they'd oppose the federal government's position in favour of same-intercourse marriage at a free vote. On December 9, 2004, Prime Minister Martin indicated that the federal authorities would introduce legislation increasing marriage to similar-intercourse couples. Conservative government announced that they'd fix this "legislative gap". The majority of each of the Liberal Party, the new Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois voted in favour of the bill; nearly all of the Conservative Party voted in opposition to the bill. The Conservative Party, led by Harper, received a minority government within the federal election on January 23, 2006. Harper had campaigned on the promise of holding a conscience vote on a movement to re-open the talk on same-intercourse marriage.
