Foundation for Equal Families
Encyclopedia
The Foundation for Equal Families is a Canadian
gay and lesbian rights group founded in 1994 following the failure of Bill 167 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
. The group's mandate is "Dedicated to achieving recognition and equality for same sex relationships and associated family rights through education and legal action". Meeting this mandate was accomplished by intervening in various precedent setting legal cases, through representation at various pride parades and most notably in suing the Canadian federal government over failure to amend 58 pieces of federal legislation that were charter-infringing
due to the definition of spouse.
On May 17, 1994, the Ontario Attorney General introduced the bill to provide same-sex couples with rights and obligations equal to opposite-sex common law couples. The legislation would have amended the definition of “spouse” in 79 provincial statutes. The Bill was defeated by a vote of 68 to 59 on second reading on June 9, 1994.
status in various court cases. An intervener is a party that has an interest in the case, but is not either the appellant or respondent.
M. v. H.
Vriend
Rosenberg
Chamberlain
Jane Doe & Doe
Same-Sex Marriage reference
Also, information sessions were held discussing the impact of various legislative changes, "[i]n fact, just last week the foundation sponsored a seminar on the new Income Tax Act provisions that affect same-sex couples"
The case was ultimately settled once the government introduced and passed the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act.
Neither the omnibus lawsuit nor the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act addressed or made mention of providing access to marriage.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
gay and lesbian rights group founded in 1994 following the failure of Bill 167 in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario
Legislative Assembly of Ontario
The Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
. The group's mandate is "Dedicated to achieving recognition and equality for same sex relationships and associated family rights through education and legal action". Meeting this mandate was accomplished by intervening in various precedent setting legal cases, through representation at various pride parades and most notably in suing the Canadian federal government over failure to amend 58 pieces of federal legislation that were charter-infringing
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
due to the definition of spouse.
Creation
The Foundation is made up of community activists and lawyers.On May 17, 1994, the Ontario Attorney General introduced the bill to provide same-sex couples with rights and obligations equal to opposite-sex common law couples. The legislation would have amended the definition of “spouse” in 79 provincial statutes. The Bill was defeated by a vote of 68 to 59 on second reading on June 9, 1994.
Intervener
On multiple occasions, the Foundation sought and was granted intervenerIntervener
In law, intervention is a procedure to allow a nonparty, called intervenor to join ongoing litigation, either as a matter of right or at the discretion of the court, without the permission of the original litigants...
status in various court cases. An intervener is a party that has an interest in the case, but is not either the appellant or respondent.
M. v. H.
M. v. H.
M. v. H. [1999] 2 S.C.R. 3, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the rights of same-sex couples to equal treatment under the Constitution of Canada....
- A lesbian couple had been in a long-term relationship. When the relationship ended, one of the women, M, made a claim for support from her former partner under the Ontario Family Law ActFamily Law Act (Canadian)The Family Law Act came into force in the Canadian province of Alberta on October 1, 2005. It replaced the Domestic Relations Act, the Maintenance Order Act, the Parentage and Maintenance Act, and parts of the Provincial Court Act and the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act in that...
. The definition of spouse in the Act that applied to support orders did not include same-sex couples. M brought a Charter challenge to this definition. She won at the lower court level and the appeals level; the provincial government appealed each time, rather than the respondent H. In reaction to the success of the case at the Supreme Court of CanadaSupreme Court of CanadaThe Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
, the OntarioOntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
government introduced and passed an Act, Bill 5, Amendments Because of the Supreme Court of Canada Decision in M. v. H. Act, 1999.
- M. v. H. - Court of Appeal for Ontario
- M. v. H. - Court of Appeal for Ontario - motion requesting intervener status
- M. v. H. - Supreme Court of Canada
Vriend
Vriend v. Alberta
Vriend v. Alberta [1998] 1 S.C.R. 493 is an important Supreme Court of Canada case that determined that a legislative omission can be the subject of a Charter violation...
- Delwyn VriendDelwin VriendDelwin Vriend is a Canadian who was at the center of a landmark provincial and federal legal case, Vriend v. Alberta, concerning the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected human right in Canada.-Early life:...
was fired from his job at a church run college because he was gay. When he sought to bring a human rights complaint against his former employer, he was told that he could not do so because the Individual Rights Protection Act of AlbertaAlbertaAlberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
did not protect people from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientationSexual orientationSexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. Vriend and three lesbian and gay groups then brought a Charter challenge. They claimed that the government and Legislature of Alberta were discriminating by their refusal to add protection on the basis of sexual orientation to Alberta's human rights act despite repeated calls to do so. The Supreme Court of Canada unanimously held that the Alberta Individual Rights Protection Act treated lesbians and gay men in a discriminatory fashion and denied them equal protection and equal benefit of the law. This discrimination could not be reasonable justified in a free and democratic society.
Rosenberg
- Two women, Nancy Rosenberg and Margraret Evans, had both received the employee benefits offered by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) for their lesbian partners. When CUPE was unable to register its plan to include same-sex survivor benefits, the two woman challenged the Income Tax Acts definition of "spouse". They said that they were being discriminated against under s. 15(1) of the Charter of Rights & Freedoms, which guarantees that every individual has the right to equal benefit of the law without discrimination. The Ontario Court of Appeal, in a unanimous decision, overturned the lower court's decision and found that the restrictive definition of "spouse" in the Income Tax Act violated the Charter. The Court determined that the appropriate remedy was the immediate reading in of same-sex partners into the definition of "spouse" as it relates to private pension plans. The federal government decided not to appeal this decision. This case led to amendments to the Income Tax Act recognising same-sex common-law spouses.
Chamberlain
Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36
Chamberlain v. Surrey District School Board No. 36, [2002] 4 S.C.R. 710, 2002 SCC 86, was a case in which the Supreme Court of Canada held that a local school board could not impose its religious values by refusing to permit the use of books that sought to promote tolerance of same-sex...
- Summary to come
Jane Doe & Doe
- Summary to come
- Jane Doe v. Canada (Attorney General) - Superior Court of Justice
- Jane Doe v. Canada (Attorney General) - Court of Appeal for Ontario
- Doe v. Canada (Attorney General) - Superior Court of Justice
Same-Sex Marriage reference
Re Same-Sex Marriage
Reference re Same-Sex Marriage [2004] 3 S.C.R. 698, 2004 SCC 79, was a reference question to the Supreme Court of Canada regarding the constitutional validity of same-sex marriage in Canada...
- Summary to come
Parliamentary appearances
Representatives of the Foundation have made appearances in front of several Canadian parliamentary standing committees.- Michelle Douglas and Susan Ursel discuss the support of Bill C-23, the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights - March 15, 2000
- Michelle Douglas and David Corbett discuss the Foundations support of civil marriage at the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights - February 11, 2003
Education
The education portion of the mandate was achieved through participation in various cities pride events, including Toronto, London, Windsor and Ottawa. Various legal "fact sheets" were drawn up providing summaries of various legal decisions that affect the LGBT community.Also, information sessions were held discussing the impact of various legislative changes, "[i]n fact, just last week the foundation sponsored a seminar on the new Income Tax Act provisions that affect same-sex couples"
Omnibus lawsuit
After a lack of legislative change to the multitude of federal legislation in relation to recognition of same-sex common-law spouses, the Foundation served an omnibus legal challenge to 58 federal Acts. The lawsuit, Foundation for Equal Families v. Canada (Attorney General) (1999), 36 C.P.C. (4th) 201 (S.C.J.), was served on the Federal Government on January 7, 1999. Extensive news coverage appeared both nationally and internationally; a BBC news article.The case was ultimately settled once the government introduced and passed the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act.
Neither the omnibus lawsuit nor the Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act addressed or made mention of providing access to marriage.
Directors
There were several directors of the Foundation including:- Michelle DouglasMichelle DouglasMichelle Douglas is a Canadian human rights activist who was involved in a landmark case around lesbian and gay equality rights in the Canadian military....
- "I've been an advocate for the equal treatment of gays and lesbians for more than ten years. I never imagined this role for myself, but when I was fired by the Canadian Armed Forces for being a lesbian, it had a profound effect on me. I fought my dismissal from the military in court, and it was my case that overturned the discriminatory ban against gays and lesbians in the military in October 1992" - Susan Ursel
- Bob Gallagher
- David CorbettDavid CorbettDavid Corbett is a Canadian lawyer who gained international acclaim when, in 2002, he argued Marc Hall v. Durham Catholic School Board, a case that pitted the rights of a homosexual couple against the rights of a religious institution....
- Marcie N. Wexler
- Kerry Tromanhauser
- Valerie Dugale
See also
- LGBT rights in Canada
- List of LGBT rights organisations
- Egale CanadaEgale CanadaEgale Canada is an advocacy organization founded in 1986 to advance equality for Canadian lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and their families, across Canada....