Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join in this debate on amendments to Bill C-33 and Bill C-33 itself.
I want to make it categorically clear that I support amendments to the Canadian Human Rights Act which will provide for the inclusion of sexual orientation in the list of those grounds on which discrimination must not take place.
I believe we can all agree in the House that in an ideal world and in an ideal country we would not need a human rights code because everybody would be treated equally. There would be no worry in the courts or elsewhere that minorities would be discriminated against.
In spite of the reality that Canada is the best country in the world by many measures, we still have discrimination. Therefore we must have a code. If some of the comments by some members of the House in the last week are any evidence, it is sadly a fact that we must have a code. I believe it is time we included in that code sexual orientation.
This is an issue of human rights. I respect my colleagues who see this as a moral issue. They have come to that decision and that place for their own very good reasons, and I do not dispute that. We can disagree but that does not change my mind that this is fundamentally a human rights issue.
I will include in my remarks excerpts from an editorial in a community newspaper in my riding of Algoma. I will not read the whole text into the record. I invite any of my colleagues who have not seen this full editorial to contact me and I will be pleased to share it with them.
From the Manitoulin Expositor , Wednesday, March 27, an editorial entitled ``Discrimination Irrational'':
Those who would argue against adding such a right to the human rights act (where it will join bans against discrimination on the basis of age, gender and race) will cite, for example, the contentious issue the Ontario New Democratic Party raised when, as Ontario's governing party, it introduced legislation that would have recognized in law same gender relationships and, in particular, would have opened the doors to same gender family adoptions.
It was this point-adoptions-that divided MPPs in Ontario from both the Liberal and New Democratic Party benches. The Ontario Progressive Conservatives were universally allied against the legislation.
The Prime Minister can look forward to the same thing because those opposed to the new legislation will raise the same sorts of issues-like adoptions-to argue in favour of some a-wink-and-a-nod type of discrimination: it isn't official, but it's there anyway.
It must be pointed out that most of the objections will be red herrings.
We will hear arguments that the official sanctioning of the right of a homosexual person not to be discriminated against (quite a concept, when one thinks about it) will somehow be undermining Canadian society and moral values; that this will, in some fashion and by implication, lead to more homosexual relationships.
It is hard to imagine, in view of the extremely negative feelings mainstream society holds toward homosexuals, that people of this persuasion or orientation would actively choose their lifestyle.
And while it is a sensitive issue to suggest that homosexuality can't possibly be a matter of choice, but innate, it seems to most-that this must be the case; Darwin and biology teach us that, for any species, the most basic instinct is to preserve itself through reproduction.
This is clearly not a priority for those people who choose same sex partners, perhaps through free will but surely most probably through their own particular chemistry, the point is: they're a part of our society.
They are a minority, to be sure. But they're with us and, just as the United Church of Canada bravely determined that being a homosexual person was in and of itself not a good reason to be denied ordination, so discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is simply not a good idea in the Canadian society that we think is special in the world.
Most of us will continue to be put off by the idea of same sex relationships. That, like homosexuality itself, is very probably some sort of instinctive response. That's the way we are probably made.
But we also have the advantage of being sensible beings, capable of rising above our irrational fears and responses.
The Prime Minister's support for changes to the human rights act will not do the heterosexual majority any harm, and will do the homosexual minority much good.
I applaud the editor of the Manitoulin Expositor for what I think are very insightful remarks.
In the few opportunities I have had to travel abroad in my life, like members of the House, I have travelled in other countries with great pride. We know Canadians are tolerant, understanding and caring. We have opened our country to people from around the world. I am much more proud as a Canadian to say we tolerate minorities in our society, including homosexuals, than to say to those outside our country that we are intolerant of homosexuals.
That many of my colleagues and some Canadians will raise issues such as marriage, adoption and same sex benefits as part of this discussion really is simply part of fair debate from that side of the argument. However, I simply do not buy the argument that marriage, adoption and same sex benefits are relevant to the amendment. They are essentially private sector or provincial matters.
What we are doing by this amendment is ensuring that in the federal workplace and in those industries regulated by the federal government discrimination will not be allowed on the basis of sexual orientation in employment and in the provision of goods and services.
Eight of the provinces and territories have already dealt with this issue in their provincial or territorial codes. It is a matter of the federal government's actually catching up with other jurisdictions in the country. I am quite proud that the government is showing leadership and is moving forward on a commitment that has been a commitment of this party for nearly 20 years. It is about time we get on with it.
I fully respect those of my colleagues who see this as a moral issue. I do not. To me this is nothing more or less than a human rights issue. We are not changing the Criminal Code. Illegal behaviour before this amendment will be illegal behaviour after this amendment.
We can speculate ad infinitum or ad nauseam on what the consequences might be. That we can do with any piece of legislation that comes before the House. We can speculate. That is fair. However, it is for those of us in the House to judge whether the speculation is reasonable. In my view that speculation is not reasonable, but I respect those who would use that in fair debate.
I do not feel in any way haunted by what will happen as a result of this amendment. If anything bad were to happen, why did we not see that as a consequence of the changes made in the provincial legislatures when they made changes to their codes? I do not recall hearing any terrible things that happened when those codes were changed over the last 10, 15 and 20 years. I feel strongly that no such consequence will be realized in this case.
I caution my colleagues to measure their words carefully when they argue against this, not to suggest the sky will fall because of this amendment, and to remember this is not about creating a special status for any group of people; this is about protecting the fundamental human rights of a minority in our society.
We have seen evidence of it in the last week already in the message the courts and Canadians get through the human rights code that intolerance of any minority is not acceptable in society. We are a modern society which is the envy of the world.
I encourage my colleagues, even those who think this is the wrong way to go, to reconsider their point of view and do the right thing.