Mr. Speaker, I was not in the House when that measure was brought forward this afternoon. I believe this matter is one that should have been debated at full length. I believe there undue hurriedness in the way we are dealing with this bill. I for one moment would not ever have members believe this issue is not of great concern to many people in the House.
However, there are many people across the country who perhaps feel differently than the majority of my constituents, but I do not recall ever being stopped on the street in my community, whether on the back roads or on the streets, where someone has said to me we need legislation to address the discrimination against these people. Perhaps I do not have many of these people, I do not know, but I am not seeing that in my riding.
I am also hearing this kind of thing from my urban colleagues. For some reason it seems to be coming from a small group of people, which is really the reason why I have not had to deal with this issue in the past. For me it is difficult to believe this is really a pressing issue for Canadians today.