(from the Globe and Mail)

Mr. Hancock said Alberta will try to use the Constitution's notwithstanding clause to allow the province to refuse marriage licences to same-sex couples, regardless of the new federal definition of marriage.

Attorney-General Geoff Plant of British Columbia dismissed Alberta's threat as almost certainly a futile exercise. He said a province cannot use the clause to override federal legislation on a matter within Ottawa's jurisdiction.

"The definition of marriage is a matter of federal constitutional responsibility, and I notice that in the last few days, what Alberta has said it will do has changed a little bit," Mr. Plant said. "My view is that an attempt to get through the back door what you cannot get through the front door will be struck down by the courts."