Goldwater, Dubé, a leader in Canadian family law since 1981, and its senior partner, Me Anne-France Goldwater, would like to thank Me Simon Jolin-Barrette, Québec Minister of Justice and Government House Leader, for meeting with the firm’s founding partner on August 10, 2023 to discuss the lack of legal protections for common law spouses.
The pair chatted for about a half an hour on Goldwater, Dubé’s longstanding and passionate defense of family law reform that the firm says should centre on the legal recognition of common law or de facto unions, or those that exist outside the traditional definition of marriage.
For Me Goldwater, the fact that a jurisdiction like Québec, which places great importance on secularism and feminism, does not recognize the rights of unmarried partners as neighboring Canadian jurisdictions do, remains a major cause of injustice and inequality.
Following the meeting, Me Goldwater shared that “the situation of de facto spouses in Québec has been highlighted in the media and within the legal community in recent months as the influential case of Eric v. Lola celebrated its tenth birthday in March 2023. In siding against Lola, a former client of Goldwater, Dubé at the Superior Court of Québec, the Supreme Court of Canada had referred the case to the Québec government to address the discrimination, but no substantial reform of the law of the family was introduced.”
The meeting took place at the Montreal Palais de justice and is officially registered in accordance with the Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Act.
