HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — Surrounded by a bank of cameras, friends and provincial officials, Kimberley Vance signed her name into history Monday as she and her partner became the first couple in Canada to legally register their same-sex relationship.
With a wide grin, Vance submitted her application for a certificate of domestic partnership, a landmark document that officially recognizes and extends spousal rights to homosexual couples.
Vance and her partner, both 32, joined three other same-sex couples in being the first to apply for the certificate under new legislation.
Bill 75, opposed by two Tory government backbenchers, allows gays and common-law heterosexual couples some of the rights formerly reserved only for married couples.
Under the legislation, there are now three classifications for relationships: common-law, registered domestic partners and married couples.
The legislation gives same-sex couples entitlements such as spousal support, protection under the Matrimonial Property Act and the right to see their partners’ medical records and make medical decisions in an emergency.
Other provinces recognize some same-sex rights, but do not have a registration in place.
The bill, which also applies to heterosexual couples, was prompted by a Nova Scotia Court of Appeal ruling last year and a Supreme Court of Canada decision in 1999 that gave same-sex couples rights to pension benefits.
