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At Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Penhold in 1984, a group of military wives began discussing how to improve the quality of life of civilians who lived on the base and distributing a newsletter. Their wish list included a daycare, a resource centre, school lunch rooms, improvement of a dangerous intersection, and dental coverage for spouses and children. On instruction from the Minister of National Defence, the Base Commander labelled their efforts as “political activity”, prohibited by article 19:44 of the Queen’s Regulations and Orders (QRO). When the wives announced their intention to continue, military officials threatened them with arrest, eviction from their homes, and referral to the Special Investigations Unit (SIU).
Calling themselves OSOMM (Organization of Spouses of Military Members), the wives responded to the letter from the Minister of Defence by obtaining a Secretary of State Women’s Program grant to establish off-base headquarters. OSOMM subsequently mushroomed into a national organization and received notoriety in Parliament and the national media. In 1985, sponsored by the Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), they sued the Department of National Defence (DND) under the Freedom of Association and Equality sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As part of its suit, OSOMM claimed that wives’ inability to make decisions on issues that affected their daily lives amounted to discrimination on the basis of sex and marital status. OSOMM’s political activity lawsuit was the first lawsuit that LEAF sponsored. Lucie Laliberté was OSOMM’s Founding and Permanent President. In response to OSOMM’s lawsuit, the Canadian military launched a pilot Family Support Program Project in 1987 and a national Military Family Support Program (MFSP) in 1991. By 1991 the Canadian military had also changed QRO 19:44 to such an extent that OSOMM reluctantly withdrew their lawsuit.
In 1990, OSOMM sued the Department of National Defence a second time, alleging that certain provisions of the Canadian Forces pension plans discriminated against spouses on the basis of sex, contrary to Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Before the suit could be heard, OSOMM’s lobbying efforts were successful at ushering in the new Pension Benefits Division Act (PBDA) of 1992. Prior to the new PBDA, a separated CF spouse could receive a portion of her ex husband’s pension as a support payment and receive a monthly cheque in her name directly from the Canadian Forces Pension Plan. However, her ex-husband could apply to a court to have the payment lowered (or terminated) if his (or her) financial circumstances changed. Alternatively, the separated spouse could receive a portion of her ex-husband’s pension as part of her property settlement. If so, she was not subject to court action to have the payment varied, and it would terminate on the death of her ex-husband. However, the payment could not be diverted directly to her from the Plan, and she was compelled to rely on her ex-husband’s good will to send her monthly cheques. The new 1992 PBD Act enabled former spouses to receive their share of the CF pension as property directly from the pension plan without either being dependent on their former partners for monthly payments or being automatically disentitled to the pension after he died. Nevertheless, after the member’s death and assuming that he had remarried, his former spouse remained compelled to share the survivor benefit with his widow, even if she had been married to the member during his entire contribution period. Following the 1992 PBDA, OSOMM narrowed the scope of its suit to the Section 15 implications of the survivor benefit; the suit was heard in December 2001, and was unsuccessful.
As a national organization, OSOMM developed a constitution and bylaws, and held annual meetings and press conferences. Considering the tremendous insularity of the military community and wives’ isolation from civilian feminists before that time, the organization’s accomplishment was immense.
Lucie Laliberté
Deborah Harrison
Hard copies of OSOMM’s historical documents can be found at the archives of the University of New Brunswick Library in Fredericton.
