Down with the institution
I'm for total equality. But to me it's a step in the wrong direction. I don't believe any marriages should constitute a contract or have any standing in law.
A marriage should be the personal lifestyle choice of two or more people according to their own values & beliefs. Any religious institution should free to perform or reject any mariage as it sees fit. But for the purposes of the state and the law, there is no such thing as marital status - only paternity. Otherwise everyone is just a SIN number.
As for benefits and legal next-of-kin rights are concerned, each individual should be responsible for naming one co-beneficiary, a power of attorney and / or executor - it can be the person they chose to wed, or somebody else. They can change this person once every 5 years.
Until this is law, I would never get married or live in an arrangement which might constitute a commn-law marriage.