Multicultural newspapers and religious publications will see ads from the Conservative Party defending traditional marriage in the coming days, CTV News has learned.

The ads will contrast the Liberal and Conservative positions on same-sex marriage and ask "What kind of Canada do you want?"

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper wants to preserve the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman while protecting the rights of same-sex couples in other ways.

While in India Tuesday, Prime Minister Paul Martin had to deal with the same-sex marriage question.

Joginder Singh Vedanti, spiritual leader of the Sikhs, issued an edict directing his followers around the world to reject the legalization of gay marriage. Vedanti said, "Same-sex marriage originates from a sick mind."

Martin was asked by reporters about the controversy.

"This is a question of civil marriage, not of religious marriage," Martin told reporters after meeting with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"I would point out that we are a country of ethnic and religious minorities," the PM said. "And the purpose of the Charter of Rights is to protect minorities, to protect them against the oppression of the majority."

Sometime in early February, the federal Liberal government will finally table its legislation on same-sex marriage.

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said it should become law by summer.

The law will be subject to a vote in Parliament. It won't be a free vote. Cabinet ministers and parliamentary secretaries are bound to support it.

It is believed the vast majority of Bloc Quebecois and NDP MPs will support the bill. A few of the 99 Conservative MPs have said they will vote for it.

Legal scholars have said the only way for a federal government to derail same-sex marriage at this point is for a federal government to use the Constitution's not-withstanding clause to uphold a law banning it.

Otherwise, even if Parliament defeats the law, same-sex marriages will still be the law in Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Yukon.

Appeal courts in those provinces and territories found the traditional definition of marriage violates the equality rights of gays and lesbians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Supreme Court of Canada didn't specifically rule on the constitutionality of the traditional definition -- something eagerly seized on by same-sex marriage opponents when its decision was released in mid-December.

But some legal experts have said the country's highest court tacitly accepted the findings of the various appeal courts on that issue.