In an effort to avert further internal dissent over the pace of the government's same-sex marriage bill, Prime Minister Paul Martin held a private meeting with more than 30 Liberal MPs Monday night.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said talks went well.

"It was an excellent meeting, and I think that there is a mutual respect for whatever different views there are."

CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife told Canada AM this morning that Martin and the MPs discussed four amendments with regard to Bill C-38.

They include:

• Stronger guarantees that Charter rights will not override religious freedoms
• Justices of the Peace who do not want to perform civil marriages of same-sex couples will not have to do so
• Churches will not be required to rent out their halls for same-sex weddings
• Religious educational institutions will still be allowed to preach that homosexuality is against God's law, without being subject to hate crime laws

No consensus, however, has been reached, according to Scott Reid, the Prime Minister's communications director.

Reid said Martin only promised that he would be open to the four amendments, although MPs at the meeting apparently left with the impression they had a deal.

"There is a long-standing commitment that all amendments will be treated fairly -- whether they come at committee or report stage," said Reid. "The Prime Minister told caucus what he's said publicly -- as part of an open process amendments will be considered fairly on their merits."

The meeting came just hours after Pat O'Brien left the Liberals to sit as an Independent over what he said were concerns about Bill C-38 -- the legislation to legalize same-sex marriage.

"I'm not being listened to in the Liberal caucus to the degree I want to be on this issue. They're determined to move forward on this issue and you can see what a rush they are in to do that," O'Brien said Monday.

He may not be the only Liberal MP upset about the bill. The Globe and Mail's Jane Taber said she's heard there are about three or four MPs who might vote against Bill C-38.

"But whether they will actually sit as Independents as did Mr. O'Brien is another question. That is certainly a big step," Taber told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

A report in The Globe today says that a dozen Liberal MPs opposed to same-sex marriage met last week to discuss strategy.

For a fleeting moment, Taber writes, the MPs considered supporting the Conservatives on a non-confidence motion to bring down the government. That would also kill the same-sex marriage bill.

"The reason being, they know they don't have the numbers to defeat the same-sex marriage legislation per say, and the way to defeat it would be actually for the whole the government to be defeated and an election to be called," Taber told CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday.

However, the group of MPs decided in the end that the bill would be passed eventually by some other government, even if this one fell.

The MPs met in the office of Tom Wappel, a Scarborough Liberal MP whose opposition to same-sex legislation is well known.

O'Brien was at that meeting, but did not indicate that he was planning to leave the party over the bill.