(Quebec) The only way to still hope to adopt Bill 2 on the reform of family law, before the adjournment of parliamentary proceedings on June 10, would be to split it, proclaim in chorus the opposition parties .
Posted at 2:15 p.m.
At midnight minus one, the spokespersons of the Liberal Party of Quebec (PLQ), Jennifer Maccarone, of the Parti Quebecois (PQ), Véronique Hivon, and of Quebec solidaire (QS), Alexandre Leduc, joined their voices, Wednesday, to ask the Minister of Justice, Simon Jolin-Barrette, to agree to split his imposing bill, which has some 360 articles, plus the appendices, over more than a hundred pages, in order to adopt at least part of it, rather than seeing him die on the full soap opera.
The opposition believes that there is not enough time to seriously study a reform of such magnitude, which, moreover, addresses many delicate social issues, which deserve thought and skill.
At a press conference, the three parties therefore asked the minister to separate from the other issues the articles of the legislation dealing with questions of sexual identity, the detailed study of which is already well advanced. Thus, transgender and non-binary people would have the assurance of acquiring a better legal framework in the short term, which has been demanded for years.
For example, on official state documents, no one would be required to identify themselves as male or female. You could check the “X” box. A non-binary person who gives birth to a child might identify as the baby’s “parent”, instead of “father” or “mother”.
The other issues (including the supervision of procreation for others, the rules of filiation, parental forfeiture, the right of children born of assisted procreation to know their origins) would be the subject of another bill, study by the end of the work if time permits.
If we exclude the portion of Bill 2 devoted to sexual identity, there would still be at least 140 articles to study, but barely a few days of parliamentary work available.
We cannot legislate like that, with such important issues, and then having the feeling that, if everything is not adopted, we are going to lose everything, even though we are working well.
Veronique Hivon
It is “impossible” to do such important work in such a short time, concluded for her part Jennifer Maccarone, giving the example of the ethical issues related to surrogate mothers. “We must avoid the commodification of the female body. It is very important to protect the women concerned, ”she argued, adding that strict guidelines had to be defined for them in this area, and also for the intended parents.
She maintains that from the start, the opposition has cooperated fully with the government, but that does not seem to be enough. She regrets that the minister “wants to proceed at high speed” on such delicate issues.
During a brief press scrum in a corridor of parliament, Minister Jolin-Barrette did not completely close the door to the opposition’s proposal, but he said he was convinced that if the opposition collaborates well in the next few days, Bill 2 can still be passed in its entirety, despite the tight deadline.
“By working together, we are able,” he said, recalling the importance of this update to family law that has been awaited for decades.
But according to the opposition, it is an almost impossible mission. “The observation that we have made is that it will be difficult, even impossible” by June 10, commented the solidarity deputy Alexandre Leduc.
“We don’t want to have the wrong role, we want to do our job like everyone else. There are serious issues, with serious questions, which we have the right to ask, then we want to give ourselves the freedom to be able to ask them, ”he added.
The Liberal opposition had already proposed to the minister to split his ambitious bill, but in vain.
Minister Jolin-Barrette tabled his bill on October 21, but its detailed study only began last week.
Quebec had no choice but to introduce a bill on the specific issue of gender during the current session, which had to comply with the judgment of the Superior Court, delivered by Judge Gregory Moore on January 28, 2021, a decision which rendered null and void several articles of the Civil Code deemed to discriminate against non-binary people.
If he does not succeed in having his Bill 2 passed by the end of this parliamentary session, Minister Jolin-Barrette will have to ask for a second extension to comply with the Moore judgment.
Eagerly awaited for years, Bill 2, which will modify the Civil Code, modernizes family law, which has not been modified for forty years, while Quebec society has changed a lot since then.