SUPREME COURT OF CANADA RULES PROVINCIAL LAW CAN DEFINE SPOUSE AS MARRIED ONLY

OTTAWA, December 19, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) – In a case watched closely by pro-family groups, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled today that the province of Nova Scotia is not acting unconstitutionally when it discriminates between married couples and common-law couples.  In the case, the Nova Scotia Matrimonial Property Act (MPA) was unsuccessfully argued to be violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for failing to include common-law couples within the definition of “spouse”.  The majority ruling noted that “The exclusion from the MPA of unmarried cohabiting persons of the opposite sex is not discriminatory within the meaning of s. 15(1) of the Charter.  The justices noted that some couples intentionally choose not to marry and thus imposing on them the obligations of marriage “nullifies the individual’s freedom to choose alternative family forms and to have that choice respected by the state.”  Pro-family advocates have long argued that the current onslaught of legislation to permit homosexual couples rights normally reserved to married couples stems from previous faulty decisions granting common-law couples the rights of married couples.  See the ruling online at:  https://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/rec/html/walsh.en.html