Mr. Speaker, I think the parliamentary secretary knows that the church I belong to, St. John's United, is in her constituency. St. John's has had a tradition over recent years of solemnizing the relationships of gay and lesbian couples in that church. However until two years ago it was not possible to do that in exactly the same way that it had been done for heterosexual couples. With the court decision in British Columbia, the minister and congregation at St. John's was able to do it for gay and lesbian couples in exactly the same way it was done for heterosexual couples. Indeed, in the last annual report of that congregation, a majority of the marriages performed were between gay and lesbian couples.
It seems to me that is an issue of religious freedom, the flip side of the one that we constantly hear about in this debate. I wonder if the member for Vancouver Centre might comment on the importance of ensuring religious freedom for those denominations and religious organizations that choose to marry gay and lesbian couples.