Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 11/01) - Shelley Strong and Nadine Scott are not that different from any young couple.

They met two years ago at a dance, fell in love, bought a house together and had a baby. Strong stays at home while Scott, an operating room nurse, goes to work to support the family.

Family is what they are to each other and to their friends and relatives.

To the government, they're an anomaly.

Under territorial law, the couple's eight-month-old daughter, Kindred, belongs to Strong, who had the child through artificial insemination. Scott has no parental rights -- she can't sign parental consent slips for medical care, and custody wouldn't automatically go to her if something were to happen to her partner.

Scott is trying to adopt Kindred as a step-parent, so she too can have parental rights. Problem is, Scott doesn't qualify as Strong's spouse under territorial legislation, because they're both women. And there's no provision under the Adoption Act for same-sex couples to share guardianship of a child.

Breaking new ground

"We're the first ones in the NWT as far as we know who have tried this," says Strong. They applied to Health and Social Services but the application was turned down in April.

"We knew it would be rejected, but it was kind of upsetting when it was anyway."

"It's very frustrating," says Scott. "And it hurts."

In 1997, MLAs voted down a bill that would have included same-sex couples in the definition of spouse. Then, in 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada made a ruling that same-sex couples are entitled to the same rights as heterosexual couples under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees equality under the law and freedom from discrimination.

As a result, the federal government introduced omnibus legislation to recognize same-sex couples and treat them the same as heterosexual spouses. (So this year, Scott can include Strong and Kindred on her income tax return, although she can't pay into Kindred's retirement savings plan).

British Columbia and Ontario have made changes to allow same-sex couples to adopt, and Alberta and Saskatchewan are also moving in the same direction, says the civil liberties group, Equality for Gays and Lesbians Everywhere (EGALE), in Ottawa.

"The courts have made it pretty clear that equality requires that governments not discriminate against same-sex relationships," said John Fisher, executive director of EGALE.

Behind the times

"Governments that refuse to change their laws are simply inviting court challenges, often wasting taxpayers' money fighting cases that they know they're going to lose," he said.

"We would encourage the government of the Northwest Territories not to wait for legal action but to do the right thing and bring their adoption legislation into conformity with court cases and what's happening in the rest of the country."

The Northwest Territories has so far made no changes. The Department of Justice is expecting to amend its Family Law Act to allow same-sex couples to file for spousal support after a separation as straight couples do. But that narrow amendment is not likely to affect other legislation.

So far, the Department of Health and Social Services has no plans to change the Adoption Act, said deputy minister Mark Cleveland.

"We're guided by the legislation, and the specifics of it are quite direct," Cleveland said.

"I really don't have a comment on whether the department is concerned (about legal action) or not. There's always the public recourse in the courts -- that's normal process if people wish to pursue it."

Scott and Strong are enlisting the help of their MLA Bill Braden, and they're also organizing a petition. Braden, who was not an MLA when the 1997 bill was defeated, says he will put a question forward at the July sitting of the legislative assembly. But he doesn't expect the department will be able to address the issue until the fall session begins.

In the meantime, Scott and Strong are just waiting to see how the government responds. If they don't see any action in a few months, they say they'll be ready to take the government to court to have Scott's parental rights recognized. There's no doubt in their minds that they'll win.

"To me it's a clearcut situation of discrimination based on my sexual orientation," says Scott.

"What does it have to do with sex anyway, if there's someone who's willing and able to take care of a child? We are a happy, loving family -- that's what this is about. "