The War Amputations of Canada has today written to the Minister of Veterans Affairs complaining that the passage of 'same-sex' marriage legislation would appear to represent circumstances under which a grave discrimination may occur for two elderly veterans who decide to live together in their declining years for matters of convenience. Sex would not appear to be involved in the situations they have brought to the attention of the Association's National Service Bureau.

The passage on June 29^th of Bill C-38 will create an unusual situation for pensioned war veterans who are usually widowed but choose to live their declining years together.

In both instances, the word 'sex' is in common use. It is believed generally, however, that the intent is to legalize marriages of both a legal nature and common-law nature with the benefits accruing therefrom to the two parties co-habiting together.

The situation has been looming for some time. It is obvious from The War Amps monitoring of the information given to its National Service Bureau, that war veterans living together expect the same treatment as other identifiable groups of society known generally as those benefiting from 'same-sex' marriage.

Such arrangement of two veterans who otherwise would be denied benefits under the Pension Act will have to be taken into consideration. As an indication of the failure of such veterans to fully understand the implications of 'same-sex' marriage legislation, The War Amps cites one specific case which has been in its files for some time. Both are widowers and are co-habiting. The purpose is not one of legalizing a sexual union but, notwithstanding, the circumstances are similar in all other respects to those generally described in the debates in the House of Commons on June 29^th and in the media.

The question of the effect of 'same-sex' marriage legislation upon this group of aging war veterans must have been given some study by the Government although The War Amps has not seen any indication that the possible consequences of the passage of 'same-sex' marriage legislation would, in the nature of Government benefits, be considered in its applicability to persons under the War Veterans Disability Pension Act.

This is a long-standing issue with war veterans. In the timeframe between World War I and World War II, the Government expressed concern about what it called deathbed marriages. In a compromise, the Government agreed that so long as both parties were alive at the expiration of the first year of a new marriage, they would be given the same benefits normally extended to a man and a wife.

For purposes of easy identification, it is necessary to understand the philosophy behind the legislation to recognize marriages so long as both partners were alive at the conclusion of one year or if one of the partners had died, there was a reasonable expectation that the marriage would still be valid after the first year.

It is the contention of The War Amputations of Canada that the Government has no grounds to discriminate against war veterans co-habiting together for convenience, as a matter of description, and two members of the same sex who desire to have their union recognized.

A copy of the letter to the Minister may be found here.

A study of etiology leading to the present situation is included in our letter to the Minister. The letter also cites the relevant sections of the Pension Act.