Bill 2 | Quebec families have waited long enough

There are only eight weeks left before the end of the session in Quebec and parliamentarians have still not begun to study the reform of family law in connection with filiation.

Bill 2 includes many articles that concern vulnerable people: spouses who are victims of violence and their children, as well as trans people, since the bill also aims to amend the Civil Code in terms of personality rights and of civil status.

Message to parliamentarians: this bill cannot be postponed for the umpteenth time.

For now, the parties are passing the buck: “It’s the fault of the Minister of Justice who badly organized his schedule. “It’s the fault of the opposition for taking too long to pass Bill 96.” Instead of looking for a culprit, parliamentarians must get to work.

Yes, it is true that there are issues in this bill that are not being treated lightly. Whether it is the supervision of the use of surrogate mothers, the choice of gender or the presumption of paternity for de facto spouses, it is a question, however, of agreeing on the terms and conditions, not of calling into question these rights recognized by Quebec society.

Regarding gender, for example, the Superior Court has already ruled that many articles of the Civil Code are discriminatory. In his decision rendered in January 2021, Judge Gregory Moore clearly established that we can no longer force someone to identify themselves as a man or a woman, which forces Quebec to modify the documents of the Registrar of Civil Status. We don’t need three days to debate it.

The same applies to granting a parent who is the victim of violence the right to seek care alone for his minor child. Who will oppose this? As for the use of surrogate mothers, it already exists in Quebec. The bill aims to frame the process to properly protect the parties involved, not to debate the merits of surrogacy.

Are MPs able to put partisanship aside to pass this bill that has dragged on for too long?

For 20 years, we have wanted to update our laws so that they reflect new family realities. In 2015, when Université de Montréal law professor Alain Roy tabled his report, we thought that was it. Liberal Justice Minister Stephanie Vallée seemed receptive even though the report had been commissioned by the Parti Québécois. But its prime minister, Philippe Couillard, was much less so. Result: the report of the advisory committee on family law went to join other excellent reports… on a tablet.

In 2018, a cross-partisan group made up of eight former ministers signed a manifesto calling for “the process of family law reform to begin without delay”. A well-received release that should have unlocked things, but unfortunately did not have the desired effect.

That we are still advocating for this reform in 2022 is sad!

In March 2019, the new Minister of Justice Sonia LeBel announced the holding of public consultations on parenthood and conjugality. She then split the bill in two, claiming it was too big a piece of legislation. His decision is debatable, but the result is that today, it is the most consensual part of the reform that is before the parliamentarians.

The CAQ has postponed the debate that is likely to be the most heated, that relating to the rights of de facto spouses. But reality will catch up with them sooner rather than later: in its judgment in Lola v. Éric, the Supreme Court had asked Quebec to reflect on the reform of its Civil Code concerning the rights of de facto spouses, which it deemed discriminatory.

But lawyer Anne-France Goldwater returns to the charge: last year she filed a notice of intention with the Superior Court in which she challenges the constitutionality of the articles that affect family law in the Civil Code of Quebec. as well as section 47 of the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms. The first names have changed, but the case Nathalie c. Pierre announces himself as a remake of a film that we have already seen. Quebec will not be able to put its head in the sand indefinitely.

Until then, the elected members of the National Assembly, including the Minister of Justice, must show goodwill and work twice as hard to prevent Bill 2 from dying on the order paper. The document has 360 articles. If we start now, we can still adopt it before June 10th. Quebec families have been patient enough.