Mr. Speaker, let us be very clear about what is going on here. This has nothing to do with a concern of the Reform Party about dependency relationships. Common law heterosexual relationships have been recognized in Canada since 1995 and not once has a Reform Party member stood in the House and said “My God, we are going to have to get the sex police out there because these common law couples will abuse the law”.
What this is all about is not so thinly veiled homophobia. The fact is that this party does not accept equality for gays and lesbians anyway. The fact is that every single member of the Reform Party who was in the House when it came time to vote on the human rights act amendments for basic equality voted no.
They do not believe in equality and it is a phony, dishonest argument to suggest that there are going to be sex police. They do not care about equality. All they care about is denying equality to gay and lesbian partners.