VANCOUVER — June 3, 2010 — The Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association (CPAA) today filed its evidence in the BC Supreme Court case concerning the constitutional validity of section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada. The CPAA will assert that the law is unconstitutional under the Canadian Charter of Human Rights.

Section 293 affects polyamorous families by seeking to criminalize “any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time”, punishable by up to five years in prison.

The CPAA’s evidence includes court statements from polyamorous families in five provinces. Each of these families includes three or more adults living together in committed intimate relationships.

VANCOUVER — January 28, 2010 — Members of Canada’s polyamory community have applied to become an intervener in the B.C. government’s challenge of section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada — Canada’s anti-polygamy law. The application, filed in BC Supreme Court yesterday, is on behalf of the Canadian Polyamory Advocacy Association (CPAA).

Polyamory, sometimes referred to as responsible or ethical non-monogamy, is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the consent of everyone involved. Section 293 forbids both polygamy and any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time and as such infringes on people’s ability to practice polyamory if the relationships involve cohabitation.