Mr. Speaker, in the 10 minutes I am allotted I begin my remarks by acknowledging and thanking my government, the House leader and in particular the chief government whip for permitting me the opportunity to speak today. It is well known to them at least that I do not support the legislation as written and I am glad to have the opportunity to explain why.
I recognize that in the House most if not all members of parliament including myself have made up their minds. Most if not all the media has made up its mind on the issue and the courts appear to be making up their minds, so my remarks are addressed to my constituents.
I intend to reproduce these remarks in my spring householder. I want my constituents to know that I stand here today to represent their views as they have communicated them directly to me over the 11 years I have been a member of parliament.
I also speak today to those ordinary Canadians who may be listening and who have not yet made up their minds. I ask them to continue to listen to the debate carefully and objectively. I hope to some degree that I am speaking to future generations who may review these debates for historical or other reasons.
I cannot support the bill as written and therefore I cannot support it in principle. I will be moving amendments at report stage. If they do not pass I cannot support the bill at report stage or at third reading.
Why not? When I was discussing this issue with my colleagues, in particular with cabinet colleagues, I asked for three things before I could consider extending benefits beyond the benefits currently granted by the House. First, I asked for a definition of marriage to be enshrined in statute so as to protect it from judicial attack. I asked to extend the benefits based not on sexuality and sexual behaviour but on economic dependency. I also asked that there be full and complete debate in parliament including not invoking time allocation or closure.
There is no definition of marriage in Bill C-23. There is no extension of benefits based on economic dependency and there is a stifling of debate by invoking time allocation.
In my view the bill is fatally flawed for the following reasons. It uses the term conjugal to include same sex relationships. This is, quite simply, incorrect. The ordinary meaning of the word conjugal in the English language is as follows: “Of marriage; the right of sexual intercourse with a spouse; of the mutual relation of husband and wife”. To the question “why the word conjugal has been used to describe same sex couples” the justice department answers that the term conjugal has a meaning in law that is different from that in dictionaries. This also is simply incorrect.
What is the legal meaning of conjugal? It is:
Of or belonging to marriage or the married state; suitable or appropriate to the married state or to married persons; matrimonial; connubial.
The source of that definition is Black's Law Dictionary. As anyone who is listening will recognize, it has the same meaning as the definition in the English dictionary.
The justice department goes on to say that the term conjugal has been used for 40 years to refer to common law relationships. This is only half true. It has always, until very recently, referred solely to heterosexual partners in a common law marriage.
The meaning is now being expanded, first by activist judges such as those in the Court of Appeal of Ontario in the case of Rosenberg and in the Supreme Court of Canada in M v H, completely ignoring the contrary view stated by the very same Supreme Court of Canada in Egan and Nesbit. Therefore in my judgment and in my analysis there is a hidden agenda, namely to allow these same activist judges to eventually declare the current prohibition of marriages between same sex people to be unconstitutional.
On June 8, 1999, we passed a resolution in the House supported by the vast majority of my Liberal colleagues. I will only quote part of it, that parliament will take all necessary steps to preserve this definition. What definition? The definition of marriage.
I suggest this is a perfect opportunity to do what parliament has already voted on, that is to preserve the definition of marriage. How could it be done? Very simply by taking this omnibus bill which deals with 68 other statutes, adding the Marriage Act and including in the definition of marriage which the House agreed to in June 1999. According to the Minister of Justice there is no need to do this. If there is no need to do this then there is no harm in doing it, so why not put it in? On June 8, 1999, the Minister of Justice said in her speech:
The definition of marriage, which has been consistently applied in Canada comes from an 1866 British case which holds that marriage is “the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others”. That case and that definition are considered clear law by ordinary Canadians, by academics and by the courts.
That is simply not correct. She goes on to say that the Ontario Court, General Division, recently upheld in Layland and Beaulne the definition of marriage. That was a majority decision of the court. If the definition is as clear in law as the justice minister says, why was it not a unanimous decision of the Ontario court? In fact it was not. It was, as she states, a majority decision, a majority of two to one. Why? It was because one of the judges said that it was perfectly acceptable to have marriage between same sex partners.
If the law is as clear as the justice minister says, why was that decision two to one? Why were there academics who supported that position in the Ontario court if, as the justice minister says, all academics in Canada agree with that definition? In fact this is not the case and the definition of marriage is being challenged on a daily basis.
Why not put it in this statute to stifle any further question and to ensure that the will of the House as stated on June 8, 1999, is dealt with? It is because there is a hidden agenda to permit the courts to attack it.
I see I have one minute left. That does not give me nearly enough opportunity to discuss the other points, but I do want to mention the questionable poll the government is using. I say questionable because it is only mentioning parts of it. I have the poll here. Let me read the final question that was put forward.
It has been suggested that benefits and obligations should not depend on relationships like spouses but on any relationship of economic dependency where people are living together, such as elderly siblings living together or a parent and adult child living together, et cetera. Do you agree or disagree with this view?
Seventy-one per cent of Canadians agreed that benefits should be given on the basis of economic dependency in the government's own poll, not on the basis of whom a person is having sex with.
I say on behalf of my constituents, 86% of whom have clearly told me that they dispute and do not agree with the Supreme Court of Canada decision in M v H, that we should protect the definition of marriage. If we are to extend benefits, let us extend them to everyone in a position of economic dependency and not on the basis of what they do in the bedroom.