Madam Speaker, I am extremely proud to rise today to speak in support of this measure.
Bill C-33 will add sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act. Introducing and passing this bill, which I look forward to with so many of my colleagues, will fulfil a longstanding commitment of the Liberal Party that goes back many years. It is consistent with countless resolutions of this great Liberal Party and it has overwhelming support within this Parliament and across this great land.
The Liberal Party that I joined 20 years ago was a party noted for its defence of human rights and its advocacy on behalf of minorities. I am proud that the day has arrived where we are debating this measure which is long overdue.
The bill does not take anything away from anyone else. It does not create special status but it responds to a reality. Gays and lesbians are discriminated against in our society because of what they are.
I guess as a Jew I have a special sensitivity to other minorities because of my people's history. The Jewish people have known discrimination, persecution and worse in this century and throughout the centuries, too often simply because of who they are or what they are perceived to be. I attach great significance to what we are doing here today. I think Jews have a special responsibility to stand up in support of a human rights measure such as this.
I am very pleased that the two principal organizations which speak for the Jewish community, namely B'nai Brith Canada with its fine record in defence of human rights with the fine work of the League of Human Rights and the Canadian Jewish Congress with its fine work as well in this field. They both stand strongly behind the government's efforts in amending the human rights act to prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation.
There are other parallels perhaps to the experience of the Jewish people that may be missed by some of my colleagues.
Perhaps some of us have a special sensitivity, but I get concerned when I hear people in this great country-our brothers, our sisters, our friends, our acquaintances-referred to in ways that make them seem as outsiders. Those kinds of words have a dehumanizing effect.
Eli Weisel said it so eloquently and it is a lesson for all of us. "The holocaust began with words". I would rather be part of a party, part of a government that uses words to enrich, to enlighten, to inform and to defend than to use words to tear down, to attack, to isolate, to denigrate.
Some people have said that this provision threatens the family. It does no such thing. Some say that gays and lesbians or their lifestyles attack and undermine the family. I want to pause to speak about a couple that came to see me in my office recently, a mother and father roughly the age of my parents. They spoke about a child of theirs who is gay. The pain I saw in the father's eyes when I first met him was not pain over this child and his situation but rather the pain in knowing there were other Canadians who would want to treat his son differently because of it.
When we speak about what might happen to the family as a result what is being suggested this bill gives rise to, we are overlooking the hurt that is causing in families. Let us remember who we are talking about. We are talking about people. We are talking about individuals. We are talking about human beings. We are not talking about some mysterious person out there who we do not know. We are talking about friends, colleagues, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters. They have families too.
There is not much more to say. This is a very important matter. I look forward to hearing the interventions of other colleagues, although some may disagree.
Gays and lesbians have not asked us to recognize them, as some have suggested in this House. Recognition is not something that we bestow or take away. Gays and lesbians have their own dignity. All they ask from the government and what it will provide is recognition of their right to equality under the laws of this country.