Judge Andres C. Garin found that the Civil Code’s inability to formally recognize multi-parent families violated the plaintiffs’ Canadian Charter right to equality.
A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled that the provincial government must legally recognize throuples, finding that limiting children's legal association to one or two parents is unconstitutional. The judgment was made in response to two separate complaints filed by families who could either only put two parents on their children's birth certificates, or aimed to recognize all families regardless of how they formed.
In a ruling issued on April 24, Judge Andres C. Garin found that the Civil Code's inability to formally recognize multi-parent families violated the plaintiffs' Canadian Charter right to equality, the CBC reported.
"Having a maximum of two filiation links sends the message to multi-parent families and society in general that only families deemed 'normal,' with a maximum of two parents, represent family structures that are valid and worthy of legal recognition," the ruling reads. "This message reinforces and perpetuates the disadvantages experienced by those who are part of a non-traditional family."
The plaintiffs also claimed that the Canadian Charter violated their right to life, liberty, and security of the person, and the Quebec Charter violated their right to respect for one's private life and personal security, inviolability, and freedom. However, the judge disagreed with those claims.
La Coalition des familles LGBT+, a group that advocates for the recognition of all families despite how they're formed, filed one of the lawsuits, while the other complaint was filed by three families that were restricted from including the names of three parents on their children's birth certificates, a relationship referred to as a "throuple."
A spokesperson for Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told the CBC that the government is reviewing the judge's decision. It's unclear if Quebec plans to appeal.
Marc-Andre Landry, a lawyer who represented one of the families, told the network: "Everybody's so relieved and so happy to be finally recognized from a legal standpoint." Further, he explained that the ruling would provide "all the protections and all the benefits of the law" to children in multi-parent families.
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