Mr. Speaker, I rise today to comment on the bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act, which in my opinion will benefit all of Canadian society.
First of all, I would like to congratulate the government on its consistency in delivering on its election promises by introducing its bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act.
It is vital that the consequences of amending the act be presented to this House, and accordingly to Canadians. There are too many lies, myths and half truths that have crept into the debate on this amendment.
Some say that the inclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination will have the effect of sanctioning crimes such as pedophilia. This is absurd. The proposed amendment in no way sanctions such crimes. Furthermore they are formally prohibited under the Criminal Code and carry various sentences.
I would also like to point out that the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as the Federal Court, have already had an opportunity to rule on the scope of the words "sexual orientation", and that at no time was there any question of broadening the scope of these words to sanction behaviour that is already expressly prohibited by law.
One myth having to do with special rights is also unfortunately raging among opponents to the amendment. In fact, quite the opposite is true, for the purpose of this amendment is to introduce sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination, which will protect, of course, gays and lesbians, but also any heterosexual, against discrimination based on sexual orientation.
The amendment is in no way intended to confer special rights on a particular category of Canadian citizen. The principal purpose of this amendment is only to protect against any discrimination in the workplace. It is quite simply not a question of this amendment conferring special privileges, such as the adoption of children, which in any event is a provincial matter, or the possibility of granting benefits to same sex partners.
I come from a so-called traditional, Christian family, and I assure you that the present amendment in no way infringes on family values. Furthermore, the recognition and the support of the government are explicitly set forth in the preamble to the bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act, which reads in part as follow:
-whereas the Government recognizes and affirms the importance of family as the foundation of Canadian society and that nothing in this Act alters its fundamental role in society-
The wording of the amendment is explicit in this regard and confirms that the purpose of the amendment is not to take away from the family as the social unit in Canada.
To those who say that this amendment should not be adopted by this House because it is a question of sanctioning an immoral measure, I reply that, on the contrary, it is a question of human rights. The Parliament of Canada has a responsibility to recognize all human rights, including the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The all-party parliamentary committee on equality rights tabled a report in the House in 1985 unanimously recommending that "the Canadian Human Rights Act be amended to add sexual orientation as a prohibited ground for discrimination to the other grounds".
Although the Tory government at that time pledged to follow through on this recommendation, no action was ever taken. This amendment was promised by the Prime Minister in the last federal election and reiterated by members of the government numerous times since the election.
Many recent court decisions have supported the need to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act. In a landmark decision, Haig and Birch v. Canada, the Ontario Court of Appeal held that lesbians and gays have historically been subjected to unjustifiable prejudice and disadvantage, and that the failure of the Canadian Human Rights Act to provide lesbians and gays with any protection against discrimination violates the equality guarantees of the charter of rights.
The Canadian government has spent many millions of dollars defending challenges of laws and regulations that discriminate
against lesbians and gays. During recent years, it has become evident that the courts are forcing changes to end this discrimination.
With every court case the government loses, our justice system is telling it that the equality rights for gays and lesbians are fundamental and that these rights must be respected. The government can either voluntarily amend laws that discriminate against lesbians and gays or be forced to do so by the courts, case by case, paying the associated legal costs.
It should not be left to the courts to make policy or to rewrite statutes. Admittedly, this amendment has its limitations. It is a federal statute and therefore limited to matters of federal jurisdiction. It does not apply to areas of provincial jurisdiction, for example, religion, education or culture.
Churches, religious organizations and schools are not under federal jurisdiction. They will not be affected in the way that they operate. Matters such as adoption fall primarily under provincial jurisdiction and will not be affected by this amendment.
It does not change the definition of marriage, family or spouse. It does not condone or condemn heterosexuality or homosexuality. The amendment deals with discrimination in employment, accommodation and provision of services.
In a 1994 Angus Reid survey, a large majority of Canadians, 81 per cent, believe that homosexuals in this country experience discrimination at their place of work. Only 9 per cent of Canadians felt that there was no discrimination of homosexuals in the workplace.
The Canadian Human Rights Act applies to the federal government as well as to institutions that are under federal jurisdiction such as banks, railway companies and airlines. Approximately 10 per cent of Canadians work for these employers. That 10 per cent has a right to equal protection of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Some people have asked that I vote according to the Christian point of view. Even if it was appropriate for me as a member of Parliament and for the House of Commons, Canada's legislature, to make laws on the basis of religious conviction, this would prove to be very difficult since there is no consensus among Christian denominations on the gay and lesbian rights issue. Although a number of clergy are speaking out against equal rights for gays and lesbians, many clergy are actively advocating these changes.
For example, more than 125 priests from the Anglican diocese of Toronto signed a letter stating that sexual orientation should no longer be a cause of discrimination in society, especially in the church, that the church should bless relationships between gay and lesbian couples and that the church allow gay and lesbian priests to have the same rights as their heterosexual colleagues to be in a committed, loving relationship, including the sexual expression of that love.
Similarly, Canadian Friends Service Committee, a committee of the religious Society of Friends, Quakers in Canada, wrote to the Minister of Justice requesting legislation to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crime legislation and the entrenchment of the principle of recognition of same sex relationships everywhere in the law.
In addition, during the debate of Bill 167 in the Ontario provincial legislature, more than 400 clergy from 135 communities representing 11 denominations signed a petition calling for the extension of the same benefits and rights to heterosexual couples to persons in same sex relationships.
In conclusion, I repeat that the inclusion of sexual orientation is not some abstract addition for the sole benefit of the gay and lesbian community, some distant and isolated group on the fringe of Canadian society.
Gays and lesbians are members of our families. They are our brothers, our sisters, our mothers, our fathers, our relatives and our neighbours. Would we want to see these people discriminated against on the basis of any sort of ground having to do with their very being? No. I am certain that the answer of any reasonable Canadian to this question will be a resounding no.