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CBC
a day ago
- Politics
- CBC
Unmarried couples with children now have more rights in Quebec
Social Sharing A major reform in Quebec family law, which came into effect on Monday, gives more rights to unmarried parents. Under Bill 56, unmarried couples with children together can now be recognized as partners in a "parental union," so long as they live together and present publicly as a couple. Sponsored by Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette in March 2024, the bill establishes that certain property — including the family residence, furniture or vehicles used for family travel — are common goods, regardless of who has ownership. This patrimony of parental union permits the courts to divide these assets in the event of a separation. These rules previously only applied to married couples and civil union spouses when their union ended. "It has become essential to act to adapt the law to new family realities and provide a safety net that would offer children the best possible stability in the event of parents breaking up," Jolin-Barrette said in a news release in March of last year. Julie Monette, a Sherbrooke, Que., family lawyer with Girard Avocats, described the news as "groundbreaking." Among the protections, unwed parents may also have access to compensatory allowance and inheritance rights if they believe they experienced losses after having contributed to the enrichment of their partner's assets or if their partner did not leave a will. WATCH | Quebec law protects common-law couples with children after separation: How Quebec's laws for common-law couples with children have changed 8 minutes ago Duration 1:51 Quebec's Bill 56 gives common-law couples with children more responsibility and new rights when they separate, including asset division and inheritance. However, full protections still require marriage. Monette says she's seen many cases of mothers who stayed home to take care of their children and contributed to expenses such as groceries, only to be left with nothing after a separation because only their partner's name appeared on the property documents. "With all the investment in time and energy and money that she did for the family, she has nothing," Monette said. A parental union still offers less financial protection than a marriage, particularly concerning spousal support and retirement savings. According to the Institut de la statistique du Québec 's most recent data, more babies in the province are born outside of marriage, with 65 per cent in 2021. At that time, unmarried couples represented 42 per cent of live-in relationships in the province, compared to married couples representing 58 per cent. No protections for childless unmarried couples Bill 56 is not retroactive, meaning it only automatically applies to unmarried couples whose common children are born or adopted after June 30, 2025. Parents of a common child born before this date can opt to form a parental union by mutual agreement. Meanwhile, a couple who had children with former partners and is now forming a blended family together is not eligible for a parental union. Lawyer Anne-France Goldwater takes issue with the law only applying to unwed people with children, saying de facto spouses are still not afforded the same rights as those who are married. Until unmarried couples can enjoy the same rights as married ones, Goldwater advises partners seeking full legal protections to get married as doing so will "assure a fair and equitable outcome however your relationship ends." "None of us really knows who's going to end up in a rotten economic situation down the road," Goldwater added. For Claudelle Cyr, the director of the Famille Plus organization in Sherbrooke, Que., this reform is a win for children who will be less "penalized." "The child won't end up with a financially struggling mother or father who may have contributed to the family patrimony for five, six or seven years," said Cyr, adding that there's often a parent who makes less money than the other. She highlighted that it's a "nice recognition" of the choices made by Quebec society and families.
CTV News
07-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
‘The CAQ is much more than just me,' says Legault
Quebec Premier François Legault speaks at a press conference marking the end of the spring session at his office in Quebec City on Friday, June 6, 2025. Legault is flanked by Quebec Deputy Premier and Minister of Transport Geneviève Guilbault, left, and Quebec Government House Leader and Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette. (The Canadian Press/Jacques Boissinot)
National Post
21-05-2025
- Health
- National Post
FIRST READING: Quebec radio host says assisted suicide is 'solution' for the mentally ill
Article content Canada is already on track to have the world's highest rate of deaths caused by assisted suicide, and Quebec is easily the province that has most enthusiastically embraced the practice. Article content Health Canada's most recent figures on MAID are from 2023, and in that year assisted suicide was responsible for 7.2 per cent of total Quebec deaths — about one in every 14. Article content That was the same year that the head of a Quebec MAID oversight body, the Commission sur les soins de fin de vie, warned that the province's health-care system no longer saw assisted death as an 'exceptional' option, or even as a last resort. Article content 'We're now no longer dealing with an exceptional treatment, but a treatment that is very frequent,' Michel Bureau said at the time. Article content In recent months, Quebec has even taken the step of expanding MAID eligibility into areas that are still technically considered homicide under federal law. In October, Quebec Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette told doctors that they could start administering MAID to unresponsive or mentally incompetent patients, provided the patients had signed an 'advance directive' to that effect. Article content Article content Even under Canada's rather permissive MAID laws, euthanizing an unresponsive patient qualifies as homicide, and the federal government has rejected Quebec's pleas for an exemption. Article content Nevertheless, Jolin-Barrette said the province's prosecutors would simply be ordered not to enforce the Criminal Code in cases involving the doctor-assisted death of an unresponsive patient, provided the death was 'provided in compliance with wishes expressed in a free and informed manner.' Article content Article content Article content Article content The saga of the C-19 rifle used by the Canadian Rangers is very close to the platonic ideal of why Canada is chronically unable to acquire good kit for its armed forces. Until the debut of the C-19, the Rangers were one of the last armed forces on earth still using the bolt-action Lee-Enfield .303 rifle, a firearm that dates back to the First World War. Instead of simply buying a newer gun, the Canadian government insisted on a designed-in-Canada replacement that took years and ultimately cost $5,000 per unit. And apparently these new guns are already breaking: The wood stocks quickly began cracking in the extreme cold of the Arctic. Article content Article content Although Mexico has always been the primary fentanyl-smuggling threat to the United States, a new U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency report has highlighted Canada as a 'growing concern' given the high number of fentanyl 'super-labs' that the RCMP keep busting. The gist of the report is that if the U.S. is successful at stemming the flow of Mexican-origin fentanyl, drug cartels might be able to pick up the slack via Canadian branch operations. 'These operations have the potential to expand and fill any supply void created by disruptions to Mexico-sourced fentanyl production and trafficking,' it reads. The political implications for this, of course, are that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump keeps citing fentanyl as the reason why he's slapping trade tariffs on Canada. Article content
National Post
07-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Quebec businesses can no longer ask for tips on taxes
Quebec became the first Canadian province to enact legislation stipulating that recommended tip amounts on payment terminals must be calculated using the subtotal — the price before the GST (five per cent) and the province's sales tax (9.975 per cent) are applied. Article content Article content In most Canadian retail and service settings, when a consumer is presented with a digital debit machine displaying suggested tip percentages, that figure is calculated using the post-tax total. It should be common knowledge, but it's not, and it often results in people paying an added gratuity on money ultimately paid to government. Article content Article content As of Wednesday, suggestions on a $100 tab at a Quebec brasserie, for example, will be determined by that number, not the current $114.98 after tax sum. That means an 18 per cent gratuity works out to be $18, not $20.70. Article content Article content While promoting the changes last fall, Simon Jolin-Barrette, Quebec's minister responsible for consumer protection, cited a January 2024 Canadian survey that found 62 per cent of people went overboard on tips because of percentages presented or by doing the math themselves based on the after-tax total. Article content 'We shouldn't feel pressured when someone hands us the terminal at the time of payment,' Simon Jolin-Barrette told the National Assembly when Bill 72 was passed in November. Article content Article content The new rules also state that the tipping options must be 'presented in a uniform manner.' On many debit machines, choices are sometimes accompanied by praise for the employee, like 'good,' 'great,' or 'amazing.' Article content 'There should no longer be undue pressure with exclamation points, comments, smiley faces, depending on the level of satisfaction linked to the level of the tip,' Québec solidaire member Guillaume Cliche-Rivard said in support of the measures last fall. Article content Article content Quebec is the only remaining province where a lower minimum wage is paid to those who regularly receive tips — they make $12.90 hourly compared to the $16.10 everyone else earns. Ontario eliminated its reduced wage in 2022, and Alberta abandoned its in 2019. Article content 'We really do depend on the tips to make a living, so with it being less, it'll just affect my yearly income and everyday life,' Montreal waiter Tyler Muehleisen told City News this week. Article content When passed last fall, Montreal barista Sophia Cooke told The Link she worried skewing tipping culture toward the consumer rather than the worker could create more competition for the most sought-after positions in an already competitive market.
