Charter Litigation

M. v. H.

M and H were a lesbian couple who had lived together for 10 years. When the relationship broke up, M applied for spousal support payments under the Family Law Act, and at the same time challenged the opposite sex definition of spouse in the Act.

The trial judge held that the opposite-sex definition of spouse violated M's equality rights under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. H appealed, but the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld the decision.

H did not seek to appeal the matter further, as she and M agreed to a settlement of M's claim. However, the Attorney General of Ontario sought leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court granted leave on the condition that the Attorney General pay M's costs of the appeal, regardless of the outcome.

On May 20, 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the appeal, holding that the opposite-sex definition of spouse discriminated against same-sex couples and was not a reasonable limit under section 1 of the Charter. The Court declared the offending section of the Act to be of no force or effect, but suspended the effect of the declaration for 6 months to give the legislature an opportunity to amend the Act to bring it into compliance with the equality guarantees of the Charter.

Egale Canada Inc. intervened in the case in support of "M" and was represented by Cynthia Petersen.

Click here to read the Supreme Court's decision