Madam Speaker, my colleague made an assertion which I do not think we can actually agree on, that we all agree on what marriage is. That in itself is another debatable point that will be coming at the end of this debate, I believe.
This bill will enshrine, as the hon. member said, that common law same sex relationships will be equal in the eyes of the law to common law opposite sex relationships. I would also say that in the eyes of the law in terms of splitting property if such a relationship dissolves in terms of the common law opposite sex relationship, the law sees a common law heterosexual relationship in very much the same way as it sees marriage.
By equating a same sex partnership, as my colleague said, to a common law heterosexual relationship in effect is equating it to marriage in the eyes of the law. That is my assertion. That is my reasoning on that. I appreciate my colleague's further probing on that point.