Layland v Ontario (Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations)
Layland v Ontario (Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations) was a 1993 case brought towards the Ontario Divisional Court (Superior Court) after a same-sex couple was denied a marriage license at Ottawa City Hall.[1] The couple sought judicial review of the decision by the Ottawa City Clerk to deny them a marriage license, arguing that the acknowledged common law prohibition of same-sex couples from marriage violated their rights under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by discriminating on the basis of their sex.[2]
| Layland v Ontario (Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations) | |
|---|---|
| Court | Ontario Divisional Court |
| Full case name | Re Layland and Beaulne and Ontario Minister of Consumer & Commercial Relations |
| Decided | March 15, 1993 |
| Citations | 1993 CanLII 8676 (ON SC); 14 OR (3d) 658; 104 DLR (4th) 214; [1993] OJ No 575 (QL) |
| Court membership | |
| Judges sitting | James Bonham Strange Southey, Jean−Charles Sirois, and Susan E. Greer JJ. |
| Case opinions | |
| The common law limitation of marriage to persons of opposite sex does not constitute discrimination against the applicants contrary to s. 15 of the Charter. The application is dismissed. | |
| Decision by | Southey J. |
| Concurrence | Sirois J. |
| Dissent | Greer J. |
In a 2-1 decision, judges of the Ontario Divisional Court dismissed the application for an order requiring the issue of a marriage licence, ruling "that under the common law of Canada applicable to Ontario a valid marriage can take place only between a man and a woman."[3]
References
edit- ^ MacDougall, Bruce (2000-01-01). Queer Judgments: Homosexuality, Expression, and the Courts in Canada. University of Toronto Press. p. 43. ISBN 978-0-8020-7914-5.
- ^ McMahon, Maeve Winifred (1992-01-01). The Persistent Prison?: Rethinking Decarceration and Penal Reform. University of Toronto Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-8020-7689-2.
- ^ Smith, Miriam Catherine (1999-01-01). Lesbian and Gay Rights in Canada: Social Movements and Equality-seeking, 1971-1995. University of Toronto Press. p. 160. ISBN 978-0-8020-8197-1.