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 | | From: | Chris Ambidge | | Subject: | Same-sex Canada Pension court win/ CP | | Date: | Fri, 26 Nov 2004 22:04:05 GMT |
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Hooray! Another step towards equality. From Canajun Press,
I found it in the Trawna Star, but it's a wire service story findable
many places.
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GAYS, LESBIANS WIN PENSION DECISION
Denying retroactive CPP benefits to widowed s
unconstitutional, court rules
From Canadian Press
Denying millions of dollars worth of retroactive pension
payments to widowed s and lesbians is an irrational and
unconstitutional violation of their rights and Ottawa's
commitment to equality, Ontario's highest court ruled today.
In a strongly worded decision, the Appeal Court sided with a
landmark lower-court ruling that the federal government was
wrong to refuse the Canada Pension Plan backpayments, estimated
at about $80 million, when it extended equality rights to same-
couples in 2000.
"Excluding many of those who were intended to be included is not
rationally connected to the objective of the law, which is to
end the discriminatory exclusion of same- partners from CPP
benefits," the court said in its written ruling.
Gay activists were delighted.
"I always knew that Canadians were interested in fair play and I
think the courts have borne that out," said George Hislop, 77,
one of five lead plaintiffs in the case.
"The Charter says we are all equal and you can't be a little bit
equal. You got to be there all the way."
In Ottawa, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said he wanted to study
the ruling before deciding whether to appeal to the Supreme
Court of Canada.
"This is not a case about same nor is it a case about
and lesbian rights," Cotler said.
"The implications of this case have to do with the whole
question of federal benefits programs and policy."
In 2000, the federal government granted various economic rights
to same- couples. However, it barred them from collecting CPP
survivor benefits if their partner had died before Jan. 1, 1998.
In response, Hislop and others launched a class-action lawsuit.
They argued they should have been eligible to collect the
benefit retroactive to April 17, 1985. That's when their
equality rights were enshrined in the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms.
In December 2003, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ellen Macdonald
sided with the plaintiffs.
In its appeal of that groundbreaking ruling, Ottawa said it
wanted clarification of Parliament's ability to determine when
laws take effect.
It also argued the lower court decision could hamper the
introduction of new social programs if retroactivity was always
a factor.
It is estimated that about 1,500 s and lesbians across Canada
are eligible for survivor benefits.
Initially, the amount of retroactivity was pegged at as much as
$400 million, but more recent actuarial data suggested it would
be closer to $80 million.
Hislop, whose partner died in 1986 after a 28-year spousal
relationship, has estimated he would be entitled to receive
about $150,000.
The Appeal Court did side with Ottawa in agreeing that it need
not pay retroactive benefits to about 200 estates of claimants
who have died in the interim.
Quebec was not part of the lawsuit because it operates a separate
pension plan
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Chris
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Chris Ambidge =|= ambidge@ecf.utoronto.ca =|= chris.ambidge@utoronto.ca
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