The Quebec government has tabled an amendment to the province's charter of rights that would force judges to consider the equality of the sexes in legal disputes.
 
The amendment is the government's response to a request by the province's status of women council, the Conseil du statut de la femme, at the Bouchard-Taylor hearings on reasonable accommodation.

Justice Minister Jacques Dupuis said Wednesday, once the amendment is adopted, courts will have to consider the issue of equality of men and women in rental and labour disputes.

"If any situation, any litigious situation [that] arises, the judge will have to take into account that there is an absolute principle in the charter that stands for the equality of men and women," Dupuis said.
 
The government says the amendment does not create a hierarchy of rights, and so does not give primacy to equality of men and women over, for example, freedom of religion.

Premier Jean Charest announced in October his plan to change the charter.

At the time, he noted the change would align Quebec law with the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms.