About 70% of Quebecers support Quebec’s intentions to regulate the use of surrogate mothers in law, according to a survey. On the eve of consultations on his reform of family law, Simon Jolin-Barrette said he was comforted in his choices.
At the end of October, the Minister of Justice tabled in the National Assembly Bill 2 “on the reform of family law in matters of filiation and amending the Civil Code in matters of family rights. personality and civil status ”. The legislative text, the first step in a broad reform of family law, aims to provide a legal framework for contracts between intended parents and surrogate mothers.
By means of a Léger probe carried out on the Web among 1000 people at the beginning of September, the Chambre des notaires du Québec attempted to obtain the level of approval of Quebecers regarding the use of surrogacy. . Result: seven out of ten people agree with the reform of the government of François Legault. About 12% of respondents oppose Quebec’s intentions.
“It shows that we are on the right track, reacted Simon Jolin-Barrette in a short interview with Le To have to, Monday. [On] responds to the concerns of the population. “
“People are aware that surrogacy exists in Quebec. Since it exists, mechanisms must be put in place to protect both children and surrogate mothers, ”he added.
Beginning of consultations
Bill 2 is about to move on to the stage of parliamentary committee consultations. For four days this week, nearly thirty groups will be able to express themselves on the legislative floor, which stretches over a hundred pages and has more than 350 articles.
Looking at the hearing agenda, the Executive Director of the Coalition of LGBT + Families, Mona Greenbaum, took the leap last week. “A reform of family law happens every forty years. To have a consultation in four days is really insufficient, ”she confided to the To have to.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, for his part, believes he has left ample time for the groups to express themselves.
“In matters of family law reform, this is not the first consultation that there is,” said the elected official. He points to two tours of Quebec, led by the Chambre des notaires and the Caquista government in recent years.
“Already, there are extensive consultations that we are holding,” he said.
During her time in committee this week, Mona Greenbaum will speak in particular on multi-parenthood. Bill 2 does not contain any notion of families made up of more than two parents. “We made the choice – and I believe that Quebecers are in the same place – to ensure that there are two parents,” said Simon Jolin-Barrette in an interview.
“To hear that is insulting. It makes a reality invisible ”, retorted Mme Greenbaum, who points out that some provinces like Ontario and Saskatchewan recognize multi-parent families.
In addition to amending parentage laws, Bill 2 tackles gender identity. In a first version strongly criticized, the Minister of Justice had planned to bring back to the table the requirement of a surgical intervention to modify the mention of sex. At the beginning of November, in an interview with The duty, the minister had finally promised to back down.