A passionate debate on whether Anglicans should bless same-sex marriages in Canada came to an end last night when delegates at their triennial conference narrowly voted against authorizing such unions.

More than 200 delegates to the six-day event just north of Toronto rejected the resolution after speakers lined up to make their points, with most speaking in favour of the resolution.

To pass, the resolution to change the church’s marriage canon required two-thirds of the delegates to vote yes in each of three orders; lay, clergy and bishops.

But the resolution did not pass because the order of clergy failed narrowly to get the required two-thirds majority.

The other two houses, laity and bishops, voted narrowly in favour.

Statistics Canada says about 1.6 million Canadians identify themselves as Anglican.