Madam Speaker, justice, law and morality are inseparable. In our country Canada, we cannot have laws unless our laws are just and moral.
The preamble to the Canadian Constitution set forth in the Constitution Act recognizes the supremacy of God and the rule of law. The recognition of the supremacy of God entrenches into the Constitution natural law. Therefore the laws of our country must not contravene natural law for to do so the laws would be ultra vires or unconstitutional.
A strict legal approach to section 718.2 will disclose that this section is seriously flawed and unconstitutional. There are many unanswered legal questions regarding section 718.2. The words hate, prejudice and bias are undefined. Hate is an emotion; bias and prejudice are beliefs. The charter guarantees freedom of conscience, expression, opinion, belief and religion.
In practicality, when the court employs section 718.2 in determining whether motivation is on the basis of hate, prejudice or bias as an aggravating factor, I ask this honourable House what legal test shall be applied? Is it an objective test or a subjective test? If it is subjective, whose subjectivity is applied, the subjectivity of the victim or the subjectivity of the accused?
If sexual orientation is included in the list of section 718.2, what is the operative legal definition of sexual orientation and how can one identify the sexual orientation of another? What legal test will be applied by the judge and will such a test be based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation of the victim? Where in Canadian law can an accused person be sentenced for a crime without having first been charged, tried and convicted of the said crime?
Section 718.2 is a double jeopardy provision of Bill C-41 which is unconstitutional. Its effect clearly sentences an individual for hate motivation without the individual having been charged under the hate crime provisions of the Criminal Code. This is unacceptable in Canada. It contravenes the charter guarantees of the right to be charged with an offence known in Canadian law and the right to be tried in accordance with the fundamental principles of justice.
Section 718.2 violates the equity sections of the charter, in particular section 15, which states that every Canadian is equal before and under the law. The list of factors provided for in section 718.2 creates an inequity in law which must not be tolerated. Since every Canadian is equal before and under the law, then a list of categories is unnecessary and restrictive.
The hon. member for Ontario has proposed an amendment to delete the list. I support Motions Nos. 7 and 8. I do not support the inclusion of the words sexual orientation in Bill C-41 or in any federal legislation. I ask this honourable House to support my position by voting in support of my specific amendment, Motion No. 13, which will specifically exclude the words sexual orientation from section 718.2.
I further challenge this honourable House to carefully consider section 718.2 and to examine its constitutional validity and its effect upon the charter guarantees afforded to all Canadians. Before this House is Motion No. 6, a general amendment to Bill C-41 which will delete section 718.2 in part and I ask for support from this honourable House.
In conclusion I cannot support any federal legislation that includes the words sexual orientation particularly in the Criminal Code of Canada. To do so would be to utilize a criminal sanction to afford special legal status to homosexuals and to give legal recognition to a faction in our society which is undermining and destroying our Canadian values, principles and morals.
Over the past 25 years Parliament has been encroaching upon and undermining the inherent and inviolable rights of the family, the right to life and the rights of the church. Section 718.2 is just another example of this.