Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I would also like to thank the witnesses. It has been a pleasure. This is very interesting.
I would like to continue on the same topic. The minister himself raised this issue during his testimony. I would also like to point out that section 4(3) of the Canada Evidence Act does deal with couples, but only opposite-sex couples.
In Canada, same-sex marriage is legal. However, section 4(3) bothers me. I will quote the English version, which reads as follows:
No husband is compellable to disclose any communication made to him by his wife during their marriage, and no wife is compellable to disclose any communication made to her by her husband during their marriage.
It seems that the bill under consideration did not address the fact that there is an inconsistency in the law. Moreover, in light of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and its interpretation by the Supreme Court, I think that there is a constitutional problem here.
Could you please comment on this?