Foundation for Equal Families

Foundation for Equal Families logo

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.

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.[1]

Intervener

On multiple occasions, the Foundation sought and was granted intervener 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. - 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 - Supreme Court of Canada

Rosenberg

Rosenberg v. Canada (Human Rights Commission) - Court of Appeal for Ontario

Chamberlain

Chamberlain v. Surrey School District No. 36 - Supreme Court of Canada (as a party of Families in Partnership)

Jane Doe & Doe

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

Reference re Same-Sex Marriage - Supreme Court of Canada

Parliamentary appearances

Representatives of the Foundation have made appearances in front of several Canadian parliamentary standing committees.

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" [2]

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:

See also

References

External links

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