The B.C. Civil Liberties Association will be prepared to comment tomorrow on the highly-anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in the same-sex marriage reference. The BCCLA made arguments in support of the right of gay and lesbian couples to the Court during its October hearing. The Court’s decision is scheduled to be released tomorrow morning December 9, 2004 at 9:45 a.m. Eastern, 6:45 in British Columbia.

Lead counsel for the BCCLA, Elliott Myers, Q.C. of Bull Housser & Tupper, remarked that “this decision will be of enormous significance for gay and lesbian couples who simply want to be able to participate in one of society’s most enduring and significant traditions. If the Court supports their right to do so, the decision will represent a historic contribution to the progress of civil rights and civil liberties in Canada.

The BCCLA’s position, along with that of a number of other interveners, was that the common law definition of marriage – which limits marriage to opposite-sex couples – infringes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Association’s position was somewhat unique in that it argued that the since the infringement was one of the common law, the Court did not have to apply a justification analysis under s. 1 of the Charter, as it normally would when a Charter right is infringed by legislation.

The full text of the BCCLA’s argument can be found at: www.bccla.org/othercontent/Marriage%20Reference%20factum.pdf

Mr. Myers will be available for media interviews between:

8:00 am – 8:30 am PDT (11:00 am – 11:30 am EDT) and

9:30 am onwards PDT (12:30 pm onwards EDT)

He will be available at the offices of : Bull Housser & Tupper: 30th Floor, 1055 W. Georgia St., Vancouver 604-641-4879 The BCCLA wishes to thank Mr. Myers, Q.C. and Associate Counsel Craig Jones and Rebecca Smyth for their generous assistance in representing the BCCLA.