Mr. Speaker, I commend the member for Mississauga South and add a little praise for some of the work he has done in the House, particularly on Bill C-235. Sometimes we know the parliamentary secretary is anxious to jump up to get rid of a bill and tell us why we cannot vote for it. This is actually a non-votable item so it does not really matter what the parliamentary secretary says or what anyone says.
It is important in life for people to obtain counselling for divorce, family or any other matter. They need the ability, not necessarily in legislation, to sit down with someone who is clear thinking and talk about their problems.
I was disappointed that the statements today of a couple of people who did not do any counselling bordered on no one being welcome in Quebec unless he or she speaks pure French, even though 42% of Quebeckers have Irish backgrounds much like myself.
Back in my early years as a member of the parole board I do not believe I counselled anyone over there so I do not have to worry about them. At that time I looked at the problems of incarcerated people, people who had been sent to jail. Before sitting down I would read the case files and note that they came from broken homes, that they were abused as children, that they dropped out of school at very early ages, and that they were suffering some type of substance abuse whether drugs or alcohol. That provided me with a catchment.
Very early on in my career here I was asked to speak at a breakfast meeting in Ottawa. I was not sure I was capable of speaking at it because it was the Parkdale Baptist Church. It sent around a topic that I was to speak on: the cost of being a Christian member of parliament.
I looked at it and thought as a Christian and family oriented person that perhaps I could speak to it, and so I did. I did some research which showed that at one point in time previous to 1993 the divorce rate among members of parliament elected for a second term was at about 75%. I thought that was pretty high compared to the rest of the country. The last time I checked it was still hovering around 72% to 75% as a result of a couple of issues.
As a rule members of parliament are elected at a later stage in their lives. They are moved away from the family unit and operate in a vacuum in this building and in the area that surrounds it. Their lives become run by the whip's offices, by the various bills that are presented, and by the pressures of the media surrounding them. Probably members of parliament, more than most people, need counselling and help in coping with everyday life. Certainly when they are away from home five days a week it plays havoc on the family.
The basic premise of what the member for Mississauga South has brought forth both in the book he has written and in the bills he put before the House is that counselling is very important to the life cycle, that counselling is probably at the heart of talking out one's problems.
The member has come forward with a bill that encourages people to have counselling before they get divorced. In fact, before they get married there should be counselling.
My wife Marilyn and I took part in the premarriage encounter course in my hometown of Lindsay. We were worried the first weekend that we spent at the church with a group of young people all full of vim and vigour ready to get married. We were shocked when we found that three couples broke up that weekend. The ministerial association was delighted and said, “What we have done and what this course has done and what this counselling has done is it has prevented divorces. It has prevented broken homes. It has prevented people from starting a family before they realize they are not compatible, that they have nothing in common, they have nothing that they can actually associate with”.
In life, as we know, as soon as people start going together society starts to pull the couple apart. Whether it is boy scouts, girl guides, the women's leagues, baseball or sports, the forces that people have to deal with start to pull couples apart. They have to look at how they are going to handle that.
Couples that are getting married in the church are now told that they have to attend a premarriage encounter course. That course involves human sexuality, the legal aspects and spiritual aspects of marriage and all kinds of things that are important to what my friend from Mississauga South is trying to get at. When a family is established and is functioning as a unit, there are differences. Every family, whether it is brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, grandparents or in-laws, has differences. Most of the minor things can be talked out before they become major things.
The member's bill would cause the government to look at what it is in law that should be standard to allow families to stay together. Whether it is a certain type of tax deduction which allows more counselling in marriage or which allows persons to spend more time at home, all of those things have to do with mental health as married couples or as common law couples. Fewer people are getting married and more people are living common law but they suffer the same problems. Counselling also has advantages in their lives.
The member for Mississauga South has brought forward something that causes us as parliamentarians to take a look and say, yes, counselling is important, marriage is important, common law relationships are important. People can deal with each other in situations as a family and go to counselling and talk out their differences. Bill C-235 is important.
Mr. Speaker, that is either a Roman ordering five beers or you are telling me my time is up. I want to thank you, Mr. Speaker, for indicating that.
Parliamentarians should keep in mind that 75% of all marriages among people elected for a second term end up in divorce or split homes, split marriages. Members should call home if they have not lately. They should make sure that they spend some time with their family so that they do not need the type of legislation the member is bringing forward and they do not need the type of counselling that is going to come out of a marriage split-up.
I agree in some ways that divorce may be the end of a long process. If people talk at the very start, that process ends up being a very short process but also a very sweet and loving one.
I thank the member for Mississauga South for bringing forward Bill C-235. I know the member for Scarborough Southwest has something to say on it, so I will end my speech now.