Maclean's: How marriage can save your life

Excerpt

"The Harper government's proposed income-splitting scheme-which would allow parents to divide income with their partner when claiming taxes, reducing the overall amount they pay-has been billed as a family-friendly initiative, and by extension, one that will help married and common-law couples, who are treated the same under our income tax law. Andrea Mrozek, of the right-wing Institute of Marriage and Family Canada, supports this as providing 'lower taxes for families,' a bulwark against big government. But critics like Kathleen Lahey, of the Queen's University faculty of law, argue the government has no place in ushering its citizens down the aisle. 'If marriage means anything to anyone, it ought to be a personal decision," Lahey says, adding that it is completely inappropriate "to try to use social assistance or tax provisions to manipulate people into making lifestyle choices.'"

Read the full article online at http://www2.macleans.ca/2014/01/09/how-marriage-can-save-your-life/