Canadian gays and lesbians have launched a C$400 million dollar lawsuit against the government for outstanding survivor benefits out of the Canada Pension Plan, according to theToronto Star.

Canada's largest daily newspaper reports that bereaved gay and lesbian spouses have filed two lawsuits in Toronto and Vancouver alleging Ottawa of discriminating against same-sex couples by denying benefits to gays and lesbians who lost their partners between 1985 and 1998.

Jan. 1, 1998 was the cut-off date the federal government imposed on an estimated 10,000 gays and lesbians last year when it introduced Bill C-23. The bill granted same-sex partnership rights last year and allowed for survivor benefits, but only where the partner has died after 1998. The suit demands that the government roll back its pension plan to 1995.

Lawyers and plaintiffs in Halifax, Winnipeg, Saskatoon and Vancouver hosted news conferences Tuesday to announce the class action.

"All Canadians rely on the CPP. Gays and lesbians retire, too," lawyer Douglas Elliott told a news conference.

The government's refusal to fully pay benefits is most galling in light of the fact that gays and lesbians pay into the pension plan the same way all working Canadians do, Elliot?s co-counsel Patricia LeFebour said.

"Working gays and lesbians have paid into the plan all their lives," she said. "The government does not discriminate when it collects the money; it only discriminates in paying the benefit."

The Survivor Pension amounts to about C$450.00 a month.

Gays and lesbians in Quebec are not included in the court action as the province has a different pension plan to the rest of the country.