Mr. Speaker, I will begin by stating plainly to everyone in the House and across the country my own personal position on discrimination.
Discrimination on the basis of any personal characteristic is absolutely wrong. My party's position is exactly the same. We believe that every single individual in Canada should be treated equally. Those policies go through our native position, our position on Quebec and our position on the issue before us today, that of sexual orientation.
Anticipating that this question would come up in the House, I was able to poll my constituents on the issue. I polled them in as plain and straightforward a manner as I could. I found that the constituents of Macleod, my region in southern Alberta, were 79 per cent against including the undefined phrase of sexual orientation in the Canadian Human Rights Act.
Reformers party wide have done polls and have found that whether or not the phrase was dignified by a specific definition, between 91 per cent and 93 per cent of our party members were against that inclusion.
I must say, since this issue has come on the table, I have had a significant outpouring of letters. I will go over the few that came to me this morning on this issue.
Steve from Okotoks is against Bill C-33. Sheila is absolutely against Bill C-33 and asked me to vote against it. Al wants me to know that homosexuals should not have any special status above anyone else and wants me to vote against Bill C-33. Greg is against Bill C-33 and asks me to keep up the good work. That is a little bit of a partisan comment, pardon me. Rod is against the bill and hopes that I am voting against it. Finally there is Lorne whose family is against the bill and hopes that I will vote against it.
I will say publicly in this House that I will follow the wishes of my constituency, the more than 79 per cent who took the time to write to me and those who continue to write to me and ask why. They ask me why an enthusiastic opponent of discrimination, a physician and surgeon, somebody who has operated on, counselled with and has been closely associated with the homosexual community in my area would vote against this bill which is being purported as being nothing more than a bill against discrimination.
I will say publicly that my association is also with family members who are homosexual. I have talked this over specifically with them. These were very personal discussions and they understand my position. My specific problem with this bill is that it will produce and allow a promotion of an unhealthy lifestyle, a behaviour that is unhealthy. I am speaking now as a physician with a physician's specific knowledge and experience.
The specific problems promoting this lifestyle relate to HIV, gay bowel syndrome, increasing parasitic infections, lowered life expectancy and finally, the one I have chosen to highlight today, an increase in hepatitis in Canada.
The U.S. Centres for Disease Control in the first six months of 1991 studied hepatitis in large urban centres in the U.S. They found in Denver 29 per cent of hepatitis A occurred in the gay community. Each figure I am giving to this House will be a specific percentage in the gay community in these large urban centres. In New York, 60 per cent of hepatitis A occurred in the gay community. In San Francisco, 50 per cent. In Toronto, 42 per cent. In Melbourne, Australia, 26 per cent.
This occurs in a segment of the population in those urban communities where it is enhanced. The overall percentage in society is about 3 per cent and those communities can be as high as 15 per cent. It is generally around 10 per cent. Look at the percentages in comparison to the numbers of individuals.
I am very concerned that this bill will start a process whereby the gay lifestyle will be promoted in our schools. I have gone to a specific now. This specific comes from the Toronto board of education sexual orientation manual for teachers. In this document there is a statement to encourage teachers to speak openly and frankly about homosexuality, which is fine. That is excellent. It should be done. However, I am concerned about a specific process here.
Teachers are given an example as to what they should say to the youth of our country. According to the manual this should be done by someone who is lesbian or gay. It should be someone with personal experience. It reads: "I feel fine about being gay. I am in a long term committed relationship with my partner. This is the best thing for me. I think this would be great for anyone". The suggestion that the gay lifestyle would be great for anyone promotes the gay lifestyle. I am quite concerned as a medical doctor that the promotion of an unhealthy lifestyle is not good for Canada.
What about promotion in our educational system in a broader sense? I have a form from the University of Ottawa-