Egan v Canada
| Egan v Canada | |
|---|---|
| Hearing: Argued November 1, 1994 Judgment: Decided May 25, 1995 | |
| Full case name | James Egan and John Norris Nesbit v. Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada |
| Citations | [1995] 2 SCR 513, 124 DLR (4th) 609, 12 RFL (4th) 201, 29 CRR (2d) 79, 96 FTR 80 |
| Docket No. | 23636 |
| Prior history | Appeal dismissed by the Federal Court of Appeal. |
| Ruling | Appeal dismissed |
| Holding | |
| The definition of "spouse" in section 2 of the Old Age Security Act, which excludes same-sex couples, is constitutional. Sexual orientation is a prohibited ground of discrimination under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. | |
| Court membership | |
| Chief Justice: Antonio Lamer Puisne Justices: Gérard La Forest, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, John Sopinka, Charles Gonthier, Peter Cory, Beverley McLachlin, Frank Iacobucci, John C. Major | |
| Reasons given | |
| Majority | La Forest J, joined by Lamer CJ and Gonthier and Major JJ |
| Concurrence | Sopinka J |
| Dissent | Cory and Iacobucci JJ |
| Dissent | L'Heureux-Dubé J |
| Dissent | McLachlin J |
| Laws applied | |
| Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s 15, s 1; Old Age Security Act, RSC, 1985, c O-9 , ss 2, 19(1). | |
Egan v Canada, [1995] 2 SCR 513 was one of a trilogy of equality rights cases published by the Supreme Court of Canada in the second quarter of 1995. It stands today as a landmark Supreme Court case which established that sexual orientation constitutes a prohibited basis of discrimination under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.