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the constitutionality of the exclusion of same sex couples from the federal Income Tax Act
and most importantly, M v. H, in which spousal support was awarded on the break up of a
lesbian relationship. Organizing, intervention and advocacy created political pressures on the
court and on the government’s reaction to court decisions. Egale, along with trade union and
other allies were closely involved in Egan, Rosenberg and M v. H. The legal networks that had
formed since in the mid-nineties contributed the lawyers who represented the parties
(including interveners) in these cases and Egale kept up the pressure on the federal
government to amend federal laws in anticipation of and in reaction to Charter decisions
(Fisher 2001; Elliott, 2002). Egale acted to bring pressure to bear on provincial governments
(such as Nova Scotia) in cases in which lesbian and gay organizing at the provincial level was
weak and, in other cases (such as Quebec), worked with provincial lesbian and gay groups to
effect policy change at the provincial level. Public opinion consistently supported the
increasing trend of Charter decisions in favor of lesbian and gay rights. In response to the M
v. H decision on spousal support in 1999, 55% agreed with spousal support for same sex
couples and 53% with same sex marriage (Angus Reid, 1999). A 2003 poll on same sex
marriage again found 54% in favor (Ipsos Reid, 2003).
By 2000, in the wake of M v. H, the federal government was presented with the
threat of ‘omnibus’ litigation from a small Toronto-based litigation fund, which represented
many of the lawyers who had worked on the lesbian and gay rights cases (Foundation for
Equal Families, 1999). This fund, the Foundation for Equal Families,
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threatened a massive
case, which would challenge the constitutionality of a board range of federal laws and
statutes which excluded same sex couples. As the legal direction from the Court in the wake
of M v. H seemed clear, the federal government forestalled this ‘omnibus’ case by passing the
Modernization of Benefits and Obligations Act (2000). This legislation extended the benefits and
Convention