Madam Speaker, on March 4, 1986 then Minister of Justice, John Crosbie, stood in the House and promised to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Today, almost 10 years later, we are still waiting for that promise to be kept. The Prime Minister in 1993 made a firm commitment on the eve of a federal election. He stated the Liberal Party of Canada is firmly committed to banning discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
The Prime Minister went on to say in July 1993: "I will not lie. I will not be a Mulroney who made promises and never kept them. I am not that type of politician".
We are still waiting, not for any kind of special rights or privileges but for basic equality. I have here a letter written in November 1993 by the Minister of Justice: "The government remains committed to amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to add sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination. I will introduce this legislation before the House rises in December".
This is yet another in a long and sorry string of broken promises. What does the Prime Minister have to say now? He said in January that they have four more years in their mandate, and that it is important these amendments receive the full benefit of debate and consultation.
What I find incredible is that this amendment to the Canadian Human Rights Act to include sexual orientation has already been debated for over ten years.
In Quebec, it has been in place since 1977. Quebec was the first province to eliminate and to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation. Now, ten years later, there will be a referendum and, frankly, I think that Quebecers must be wondering when the government is going to keep its promises. Gay and lesbian Quebecers in particular must be wondering when the government will follow the example of leadership set by Quebec on this fundamental issue.
It is essential this amendment be brought into force partly because there is still widespread discrimination at the workplace, discrimination in extending benefits, the benefits in recognition of gay and lesbian relationships, and discrimination in recognizing families of gay and lesbian people.
I hope the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice will take this opportunity not to tell us, as the Minister of Justice does, that we remain committed to the principle of this commitment, but that at last this government will move forward on the question of basic justice and equal rights.