Same or Other?

Got an email from Egale Canada, "the national organization which advances equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-identified people in Canada," pointing out that the Canadian census form now being filled out "instructs same-sex couples who are married to check the 'Other' category at the bottom of the list of relationships, rather than checking the top box marked 'Husband or wife.' "

I took a look, and it's true. What's the point of that? Here's the rest of the email:

Egale Canada...is recommending that same-sex married couples list their relationship as 'Husband or wife' rather than 'Other.' According to Statistics Canada, either response will be captured correctly as a married same-sex couple. In addition, Egale is calling on all concerned Canadians to add a comment on Page 6 of the questionnaire, such as 'Same-Sex couples deserve equal treatment.'

Please take further action to make express your support for same-sex
couples. Please visit http://www.egale.ca/census2006, and see how easy it is to make your voice heard.