Yellowknife (July 23/04) - The territorial government is preparing a bill that will give homosexual couples the same rights as common-law couples, said Justice Minister Charles Dent.

The bill is to be tabled for first reading when the legislature resumes in October, and if passed into law, will update the provisions of at least 25 existing statutes.

"The bottom line is that homosexual couples will have the same rights as common-law couples," said Dent.

The new bill will cover everything from rules governing organ donation to inheritance.

The government has been working on the bill since the beginning of the year, said Dent. If it passes, Dent figures it will enter into law in February or March.

The process of conferring common-law rights on homosexual couples began in Ontario in 1999, after the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that under the province's Family Law Act, homosexual couples should qualify for support payments if their relationships end.

With regard to the recent court decision on gay marriage in the Yukon, Dent said the GNWT is waiting for a parliamentary verdict on the question.

"(Without) a federal law or court ruling, gay marriage will not be introduced in the NWT," he said, explaining that marriage is outside the territories' jurisdiction.

"We don't even define marriage," he said.