Mr. Speaker, recently a bomb was sent to a Jewish community centre in Calgary, a gay man was beaten in a park, a First Nations person was denied lodging, and a woman was denied a promotion because she is a woman. Racism, sexism and homophobia are not the issues of the dark past. For too many people they are everyday experiences.
As parliamentarians we have a special responsibility to show leadership in building a society founded on equal respect for every Canadian. Extremism gives legitimacy to those who would justify racism, sexism and homophobia for reasons of profit or simply to deny others equal rights and respect.
If we as parliamentarians do not demonstrate leadership on this issue, we have failed our country and our democracy.
Today the Reform Party deputy leader has said she is committed to fighting intolerance. I therefore challenge the Reform Party to vote for the amendment to the human rights act on sexual orientation, not just to apologize, but to show real action.