Madam Speaker, I rise in the House to speak at report stage on Motions Nos. 6 and 13 proposing amendments to Bill C-41.
Bill C-41, and in particular section 718.2, has been vigorously promoted by the government and the media as the hate crime legislation.
Let me remind this honourable House that section 718.2 is not the operative hate crime provisions of the Criminal Code. Rather it is the purposes and principles of sentencing which must at all times reflect the fundamental values, principles and morals on which this great nation, Canada, has been founded.
Section 718.2, as drafted, is unacceptable. It does not reflect the principles and values of the majority of Canadians. The specific inclusion of the words sexual orientation gives legal recognition and legal status to a faction in society which is undermining and destroying Canadian values and Judeo-Christian morality.
Such a special recognition of sexual orientation in the Criminal Code is an overt condonation of the practices of homosexuality which is being imposed on all Canadians. Bill C-41 has the effect of legislating a morality that is not supported by Canadian and Judeo-Christian morals, values and principles.
To endorse or to include the words sexual orientation in any federal legislation would confer on homosexuals the ability to obtain special legal status, allow them to redefine the family, to enter into the realm of the sanctity of marriage, to adopt children, to infiltrate the curriculum of schools and to impose an alternative lifestyle on youth. All these demands are encroaching on and undermining the inherent and inviolable rights of family and the rights of the church.
The family unit is the basic institution of life and the solid foundation on which our forefathers have built this great nation. The protection of families, family life and family values must be a priority with this government. Families have inherent and inviolable rights. Families have existed before the church and families have existed before the state. The rights of the family must be preserved, safeguarded and protected by Parliament.
Why do I as a legislator continue to make reference to principles, values and morals when debating Bill C-41? It is because section 718.2 refers specifically to principles. In the words of the hon. justice minister before the justice committee on Bill C-41 on November 17, 1994-