Quebec Court Says Laws Restricting Children to 2 Parents Must be Changed

Quebec Superior Court is seen in Montreal, on March 27, 2019. The Canadian Press/Ryan Remiorz

A Superior Court judge has ruled that children in Quebec can have more than two parents and ordered the province to revise its laws within 12 months to legally acknowledge other family dynamics.

The issue was brought forward by La Coalition des familles LGBT+ and three separate “multi-parent families” who say laws in the province that restrict parenthood of a child to two individuals discriminates and infringes on the rights of security of the person, integrity of the person, freedom, dignity, and privacy.

The case examined the concept of filiation, which are the rules that govern a child’s attachment to parents.

Quebec Superior Court Judge Andres Garin said in an April 25 decision that parenthood is a “legal construction” and has determined Quebec laws that restrict the role to just two parents to be “invalid.” He ordered his declaration be suspended for 12 months to allow legislators the time to “adopt an appropriate legislative solution.”

“The traditional family model has lost some of its importance in Quebec,” Garin wrote. “Very many Quebecers live and raise children in common-law unions as common-law partners. Moreover, the phenomenon of single parenthood is now well known in our society.”

Some provinces already recognize multi-parent families, including Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador, according to the court decision.

Garin said that expert research evidence given by University of Quebec professor Karine Poitras, “demonstrates that the well-being of children depends more on the quality of parent-child relationships than on the family structure and that the links of secure attachment can develop between a child and several parental figures simultaneously.”

Some groups have raised questions about the impact on children, including the Association for Reformed Political Action (ARPA).

ARPA’s Joel Persaud told The Epoch Times the court decision causes legal problems, and could be harmful for children.

”It’s going to make it difficult for children, increasingly difficult for them to live in a stable family,” he said in an interview. “Because the moment that there is a disagreement, let’s say that there is a disagreement among all three parents about where that child should go to school, for example, that ... would become more difficult.” 

Persaud said the case seemed like one of “judicial activism.”  

“I think a lot of judges tend to hold this opinion that society is changing, we’re evolving, and so imposing these more traditional viewpoints on parenting and marriage, that we should move away from that,” he said.

“What they’re trying to do is they’re trying to use the law to recognize people who ... don’t see themselves as being a part of that traditional system.”