Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Dec 21/01) - Shelley Strong and Nadine Scott are preparing to sue the territorial government early in 2002.

The challenge, which demands recognition of shared custody of adopted children by same-sex couples, is to ensure that the government amends its Adoption Act during the February sitting of the legislative assembly.

Strong and Scott are a same-sex couple raising a daughter, Kindred. The girl is Strong's biological daughter but the family wants Scott to be a legal parent under the territorial system.

That means sharing custody of Kindred and signing parental consent slips.

The pair's lawyer, Sheila MacPherson, said she is hoping the matter will be heard by the courts "toward the end of February."

Under that pressure, Scott and Strong hope the GNWT will live up to its commitment.

"Our main concern right now is that it gets changed as soon as possible," Strong said. "I think it is only a matter of time."

The couple wanted changes to the act made at the last legislative assembly sitting in the fall. That didn't happen, but reassurances made then were enough to keep Strong, Scott and MacPherson optimistic.

Politicians previously told the women the government is looking at overhauling same-sex rights legislation across the board. That would include changing the Intestate Succession Act, which deals with people who die without a will, and the Family Law Act governing spousal support and division of property among married or common-law couples.

The overhaul would even hit on a section of the Wildlife Act that deals with gender and hunting licences.

"That takes a long time," MacPherson said.

Michael Miltenberger, the minister of health and social services, supplied some words of encouragement for the two women.

"The plan is to come forward with legislation that would deal with that specific issue come the February sitting," he said.

He added that many other provinces and territories are already rewriting their acts to accommodate a Supreme Court of Canada ruling.

The issue was first raised in the 13th sitting of the assembly but was voted down.

"The folks that have raised the issue because of personal circumstances have made sure the issue is not forgotten," Miltenberger said.