Family Status, Sexuality and The Province of the Judiciary : The Implications of Mossop v. A.-G. Canada

The Supreme Court decision in Mossop amounts to a postponement of, rather than a precedent on, the issue of whether the exclusion of gay and lesbian families from employment benefits is a violation of current anti-discrimination law. The author argues that the Court managed to avoid the issue by departing from its well-established tradition of giving generous, dynamic and purposive interpretations to human rights statutes. He also questions the accuracy of the Court\u27s assertion of superior judicial expertise on anti-discrimination law. In the area of gay rights, Supreme Court justices have shown themselves to be disinclined to take on the responsibilities that such expertise ought to entail