Is marriage a valid basis for discrimination under section 15(1) of the Charter?
British Columbia, Canada
The following excerpt is from Johnstone v. Wright, 2001 BCSC 838 (CanLII):
In Miron v. Trudel, 1995 CanLII 97 (SCC), [1995] 2 S.C.R. 418 the Court held that “marital status may serve as an analagous ground of discrimination under Section 15(1) of the Charter,” but also found that marriage may be used as the basis for excluding people from protections and benefits conferred by law provided the legislation can survive a s. 1 analysis. (p. 752)
I find therefore that s. 15 does not prohibit making distinctions on the basis of marriage. Nor does it prohibit making distinctions between persons or groups of persons: Andrews v. Law Society of British Columbia, 1989 CanLII 2 (SCC), [1989] 1 S.C.R. 143.
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