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Her Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of
Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances,
in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled ``An Act
to modernize the Statutes of Canada in relation to benefits and
obligations''.
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A number of federal Acts provide for benefits or obligations that
depend on a person's relationship to another individual, including their
husband or wife and other family members. Most of those Acts
currently provide that the benefits or obligations in relation to a husband
or wife also apply in relation to unmarried opposite-sex couples who
have been cohabiting in a conjugal relationship for at least one year.
Some of those Acts provide for benefits or obligations in relation to
certain family members of a person's husband, wife or opposite-sex
common-law partner.
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This enactment extends benefits and obligations to all couples who
have been cohabiting in a conjugal relationship for at least one year, in
order to reflect values of tolerance, respect and equality, consistent with
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
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