Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In terms of a general comment, I just wanted to say that I support the intent of this act and am glad to see it coming forward. I had, Mr. Chairman, attended the committee meetings in December and expressed concern there about the terms; that being, the two-year limitation. I have a number of questions about different sections of the act, Mr. Chairman, and I notice other Members have gotten into that so I hope that you won't mind if I proceed with some questions I have on different clauses.

I wonder if we could find out if the definition of common-law spouse in this act is comparable to other jurisdictions. In other words, do other jurisdictions say that it should be a period of two years? Do other jurisdictions say that the cohabitation should be a period of six months, one year, or three years? I

wonder if we could get a comparison of what is common across Canada?