Mr. Speaker, pursuant to Standing Order 36, I have two petitions to present.
In the first one the undersigned petitioners of Canada draw the attention of the House to the fact that the inclusion of sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act will provide certain groups with special status, rights and privileges. These special rights and privileges will be granted solely on the basis of sexual behaviour. Inclusion would infringe on the historic rights of Canadians such as freedom of religion, conscience, expression and association.
Therefore they petition Parliament to oppose any amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that would provide for the inclusion of the phrase sexual orientation.
The second petition is more or less in the same tone. It calls on Parliament not to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act or the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in any way that would tend to indicate societal approval of same sex relationships or of homosexuality, including amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to include in the prohibited grounds of discrimination the undefined phrase sexual orientation.