Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Later today I will be giving notice of motion for first reading of a bill to amend the Adoption Act and the Family Law Act. These amendments reflect the requirements for equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Human rights legislation across Canada, including our own proposed NWT Human Rights Act, list sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. As well, various courts across the country, including the Supreme Court of Canada, have ruled that legislation that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation violates the Charter and has been found to be unconstitutional.
As a result, courts and Legislatures have been granting many of the same rights and responsibilities under the law to same-sex couples that are enjoyed by opposite sex common-law couples. This includes such areas as the right to spousal support, the right to equal division of property and the right to adopt.
Mr. Speaker, in the Northwest Territories, individuals involved in same-sex common-law relationships do not, in most cases, currently have the same legislated rights and responsibilities as do individuals in opposite sex common-law relationships. In order to ensure that our legislation complies with equality provisions under the Charter, and to avoid any costly legal challenges, we will be addressing this concern in two phases.
In phase one we will be introducing a bill to amend the Adoption Act and the Family Law Act. These amendments will change the definition of spouse to include, in addition to married couples, those who have lived in a conjugal relationship for two years. The definition will be gender neutral. As a consequence of these amendments, nine other acts that use the definition of spouse found in the Family Law Act would also be affected.
These amendments will ensure that those individuals living in a same-sex relationship will have the same rights and obligations under this legislation that are currently provided to those living in a common-law relationship. Specifically under the Family Law Act and the Adoption Act, they would be able to seek spousal support, division of property, restraining orders and be allowed to adopt.
Phase two of this project involves a review and amendment of all the remaining 35 pieces of legislation that use spouse or an equivalent.
Mr. Speaker, developments in Canadian law over the past ten years have resulted in the extension to unmarried couples many of the same rights and obligations that have been enjoyed by married couples. In addition, the courts have ruled that discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation is unconstitutional. These two developments have meant that laws that treat unmarried couples differently based on their sexual orientation have been found unconstitutional. By amending our NWT legislation to provide equal treatment under the law for individuals involved in same-sex relationships as for individuals in common-law relationships, we are simply bringing our legislation in line with the development of the law across the rest of Canada. This process will in no way impact on the institution of marriage in the Northwest Territories. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.