Mossop v. Canada, [1993] 1 S.C.R. 554 was the first decision of the Supreme Court of Canada

Supreme Court of Canada

The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...

 to consider equality rights for gays. The case is also significant as one of Justice L'Heureux-Dube

Claire L'Heureux-Dubé

Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, served as a justice on the Supreme Court of Canada from 1987 to 2002. She was the first woman from Quebec and the second woman appointed to this position.- Personal history :...

's most famous dissents where she proposes an evolving model of the "family".

Background

In 1985, Brian Mossop, a gay man from Toronto, sought bereavement leave from his employer, the Canadian federal government's Translation Bureau, to attend the funeral of his same-sex partner's father. His employer denied him leave under the collective agreement on the grounds that his partner was not "immediate family". Mossop took his employer before the Canadian Human Rights Commission

Canadian Human Rights Commission

The Canadian Human Rights Commission is a quasi-judicial body that was established in 1977 by the government of Canada. It is empowered under the Canadian Human Rights Act to investigate and try to settle complaints of discrimination in employment and in the provision of services within federal...

. Sexual orientation was not a prohibited ground of discrimination at that time, so he argued that he had been discriminated against on the basis of his "family status", under section 3 of the Canadian Human Rights Act

Canadian Human Rights Act

The Canadian Human Rights Act is a statute originally passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1977 with the express goal of extending the law to ensure equal opportunity to individuals who may be victims of discriminatory practices based on a set prohibited grounds such as gender, disability, or...

.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found in his favour, but the government appealed to the Federal Court and the favourable finding was overturned. Mossop appealed to the Supreme Court, but it upheld the finding of the Federal Court.

Reasons of the court

The majority held that absent a Charter challenge of the constitutional validity of the Canadian Human Rights Act, there was no grounds for a claim.

In dissent, Madam Justice L'Heureux-Dube found that there was basis to read sexual orientation into the term "family status" within the Canadian Human Rights Act. She argued that the meaning of family should be read purposively and that given the growing number of non-traditional families there is a need to reconsider its meaning in light of these changes. She was joined on this point by McLachlin J. and Cory J., who both agreed that the relationship of Mossop and his partner fell within the scope of the term "family status".

Aftermath

Despite the dismissal of his appeal Mossop declared the decision a success as it opened up a national debate on gay rights. A subsequent Supreme Court case to consider discrimination against gay persons, Egan v. Canada

Egan v. Canada

Egan v. Canada, [1995] 2 S.C.R. 513, was one of a trilogy of equality rights cases published by a very divided Supreme Court of Canada in the spring of 1995...

, would find that sexual orientation is a prohibited grounds of discrimination under Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.