TORONTO, Jan 13 (LifeSiteNews.com) Yesterday a press release by the homosexual advocacy group EGALE (Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere) revealed that the Ontario government is appealing a decision by the Ontario Court which would have forced “every pension plan in the province of Ontario to provide both pre-retirement and post-retirement death benefits to the same-sex partners of plan members.” According to the release, Justice Rivard of the Ontario Court (General Division) ruled on December 8, 1998 that the “opposite sex” definition of “spouse” in the Ontario Pension Benefits Act is discriminatory and unconstitutional because it excludes same-sex partners.
Pro-homosexual groups and their supporters reacted with outrage to the appeal. “This is an outrageous breach of trust,” said John Fisher, Executive Director of EGALE. A lawyer for the Ontario Teachers Federation, who intervened in the case to push for the homosexual benefits called the government’s decision “simply irresponsible.”
This move by the Ontario Tories is the latest in a series of actions that have pro-family supporters hopeful that the government is moving in the right direction. In the recent case of M & H v Ontario, the Government has appealed to the Supreme Court a ruling that the definition of “spouse” in the Family Law Act should be extended to same-sex couples.