Date: Tue, 22 Jul 1997 12:12:12 -1000 From: "Fred Bradford (Los Angeles)" (by way of lambda@aloha.net (Martin Rice)) Subject: SA 105: British Columbia Redefines "Spouse" Aloha awakea kakou. . . . . and this one from Kaikua`ana Fred in Los Angeles . . . . The B.C. legislature has just passed Bill 31 amending the Family Relations Act. The new legislation deals chiefly with issues surrounding child support and custody, but most debate focused on the redefinition of the word "spouse" in the Act to include same-sex couples. This effectively gives the identical common-law status to same-sex couples that opposite-sex unmarried couples enjoy. The Act does not provide for same-sex marriage, which would fall under federal jurisdiction in Canada. The Act also does not affect any other B.C. statutes dealing with spousal issues (e.g., workplace benefits). However, during debate the provincial Attorney General committed to performing a comprehensive review of all statutes and is expected to return to the legislature with additional amendments based on the review next year. The vote was 59 to 9, reflecting the general consensus in the legislature to make these changes. The nine members voting against the bill were all from the opposition Liberal party. Most Liberals, however, supported the bill, as did both members of the B.C. Reform Party. ======================================================== Lawrence Aronovitch tel/fax: 250-370-0340 Victoria BC Canada e-mail: ila@islandnet.com ========================================================