We respectfully ask you to appeal this ruling. We believe that such a judicial decision far exceeds the scope of a mere adjustment of family law: it actually opens the door to the implicit recognition of polygamous practices in Quebec, which are criminalized in Canada under section 293 of the Criminal Code precisely because of their recognized effects on women and children.
You yourself expressed, during the hearings surrounding Bill 12 concerning the reform of family law, a strong opposition to the recognition of multiparentality, particularly during the intervention of the Association of Progressive Jurists of Quebec. Your clear position at that specific moment was based precisely on the need to protect the legal stability of the child, to avoid complex situations of multiple filiation, and to preserve the integrity of the Quebec legal framework. We encourage you to demonstrate the same rigor today, as this judgment undermines the foundations that you yourself had defended.
The right to the child now seems to take precedence over the rights of the child themselves. By detaching parentage from biological ties or even family stability, this ruling undermines the recognition of motherhood and fatherhood in favor of a subjective right to be a parent, based solely on intent or social function.
However, let us recall that the best interest of the child is supposed to guide all decisions in family law. Allowing a child to have three or even four legal parents, without considering the concrete consequences of such arrangements - in cases of breakups, disagreements, or shared custody - amounts to prioritizing the desires of adults over the emotional and educational stability of the child.
We also draw your attention to the social and legal consequences of such a precedent. If parenthood becomes a status open to more than two adults, on what basis will we refuse tomorrow the recognition of polygamous unions in the name of equality or non-discrimination?
This shift is all the more concerning as research, including that of Robert and Bernatchez (2010), has clearly documented the harmful effects of polygamy on women and children, both economically, educationally, and psychologically.
Furthermore, the practical implications of legal multiparenting have not been seriously evaluated. What will happen to the sharing of parental authority? To custody in the event of separation? To the allocation of parental leave? To child support?
It would be premature and irresponsible to modify the family law so fundamentally without broad consultation and without rigorous analysis of the impacts on children and society.
Mr. Minister, we believe that this judgment deserves to be reviewed by a higher authority. We ask you to defend the fundamental principle that the child is not an adult's project, but a person whose rights, stability, and best interests must take precedence at all times.
Please accept, Mr. Minister, the expression of our respectful greetings.
Alexandra Houle
Réseau féministe québécois president
