Mr. Speaker, I have been listening to this debate for too many years. For those with a deep interest in the issue of human rights in Canada and the introduction of sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of discrimination and for those with serious and legitimate concerns about Bill C-33, I would like to recommend the speech given at second reading by my colleague, the Minister of Justice, for their enlightenment.
They will find the answers to many of the questions and to some of the concerns which I legitimately recognize are from the depths of their hearts. I understand that.
We would be foolish if we did not acknowledge that over time there have been misunderstandings, stereotypes, myths, misrepresentations and all the words that one would care to use. However, the bottom line is that there are groups of people in this country who suffer from discrimination. They suffer from prejudice, they suffer from bias. Within that group, which is a major group-we just have to turn on the Internet to see what I am talking about-there are people who have a different orientation with respect to the expression of their sexuality.
In the time I have today I am not able to explain as clearly and in such an enlightened way as the minister did. He has expressed, as we have all expressed in our remarks, why we are not adding a special right and why we are being very defined and confined in our view that there is a segment of our population which is suffering from discrimination. This is not the Canadian way. This is not how we care to address these issues. Adding sexual orientation to section 3 of the human rights act completes the list which was intended with respect to the prohibition of grounds of discrimination.
As the chairman of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of the Disabled, I have found that this bill is in some way a logical progression of the work I have done over many years in this House. I have had a great interest in the field of human rights. When the charter of rights and freedoms was first introduced in 1982 there was a three-year hiatus during which time the question of section 15, the question of the application of non-discrimination and a list of those areas in which people were most vulnerable were included in this charter.
We were asked to look at section 15, study it and see how to bring it into force by the year 1985. Time allocation was an extremely interesting eye opener. We looked at many areas of discrimination, including the elderly, the disabled, women and children. We went through a whole range of acts, including those related to the economy, insurance and all aspects of our daily lives.
I was proud to be a member of that very hard working, all-party committee which examined, inquired into and reported on equal rights. We looked at areas in which federal law had to be changed so the rights of the individual would be respected. The committee was convinced after consulting Canadians across this country that "to leave any one group of citizens beyond the pale is a dangerous precedent. In a democracy it is equally dangerous to leave the decision about inclusion or exclusion of any particular group from human rights safeguards to the will of the public or at any moment in the course of our history".
Many people react to questions involving homosexuality on a visceral level. We have heard that reaction in this House. I think they are expressing some serious concerns which they have been exposed to over a long period of time. This reaction reflects longstanding attitudes and stereotypes in our society. It is time we wiped the cobwebs and put the facts on the table.
We are dealing with a question of public policy that must be reasoned through. We have reasoned this through since 1985. Minorities in our society need protection to put them on an equal footing with all others.
Because the government provides legal protection, does not mean it endorses a particular religion, a particular political belief or a personal trait. It simply means that in a free and democratic society, discrimination under our laws on the basis of those differences will not be tolerated.
We have said many times in the House that racism is not to be tolerated, ageism is not to be tolerated. We have removed the obligation to fire people based on age. We have looked at racism and we have developed a whole series of programs to address the unfounded targeting, particularly of people who are visible minorities.
In 1985, the committee met Canadians of all ages, professions and religions who were gay. For many of us this was our first contact with people who professed this kind of lifestyle. In all honesty and all candour, we were a bit shocked. First we were shocked by the number of people we met. In every city we went to, in all the towns and villages there were people who had chosen a lifestyle that we had not chosen. They live everywhere. They are part of the larger family and I guarantee that if members look at their families, they will find people with homosexual preferences.
Minorities in our society need protection. Provision of legal protection does not mean we endorse their approaches. Discrimination under our laws on the basis of those differences is what we are talking about and will not tolerate.
We met these people. We heard details about physical abuse, and psychological oppression from which they have suffered. We heard about the hate propaganda which had been targeted toward them and that they had been demonized in many ways. We heard about the outright discrimination they faced in employment, in housing and in services.
Some, moreover, were apprehensive about coming before the committee, for fear of losing their jobs or their homes.
That was what the situation in Canada was like just 10 years ago, in a country that boasted of its justice, compassion, tolerance and mutual respect, but did not extend them to people with a different sexual orientation.
My colleagues and I, some of whom had never before been aware of or been very concerned about the discrimination faced by homosexuals and lesbian Canadians, submitted to this House a unanimous report called "Equality for All". In it we recommended that sexual orientation be added to section 15 of the Canadian Human Rights Act as a prohibited ground of discrimination.
If members would care to read the document which contains some of the things we heard, they will see we used the term sexual orientation. It could have been any one of a number of different terms. This term is used and referred to very often worldwide. It is an inclusive ground of exclusion. It covers homosexuals, heterosexuals and transgendered Canadians.