Mr. Speaker, this is a very difficult debate. I think the reason it is so difficult is because no matter whether we support or oppose the bill, the government drafters have put members of parliament in a position where they have to be against something. If we support the bill, there are strong concerns that we are against the preservation of one of the key institutions of our society and are weakening it. If we oppose the bill, there are assertions that we are against equality and against being fair to people in this country, particularly minorities.
This is a very difficult issue for members of parliament. From what I have heard, there is sometimes more heat than light in this debate, which is very unfortunate. As members of parliament, we do want to do what is right, what is best and what is fair for the people of this country.
I have a few remarks to make which I hope will add more light than heat to the debate and will help us as members of parliament and as Canadians to make a good judgment about this matter.
The key concern about Bill C-23, which is the same sex benefits bill, seems to be that marriage is being fundamentally changed in the context of public policy. Because marriage is one of society's most fundamental institutions, we have a legitimate obligation as members of parliament to very carefully examine this concern.
I did not speak on the first reading of the bill. I have not taken an active role on this particular issue to date because, as most people know, I have been very busy in my critic area talking about the mismanagement of public moneys in the human resources department.
Notwithstanding the fact that I have been somewhat absent from the debate, my office in Calgary received 110 calls, letters and e-mails on this subject since the bill was introduced. Those were, to a large extent, unsolicited by anything I did or said. Of those 110 calls and letters, many of which were very strongly worded, my office tells me that only one or two were in support of Bill C-23.
As a member of parliament and as a representative of the people of Calgary—Nose Hill, I am obliged to take that very seriously. I will read from one of the e-mails that I received which, in my judgment, is representative of the concerns that my constituents brought forward. The e-mail from this constituent mentions three serious concerns about the legislation. In different variations of language, I have heard this in the e-mails, letters and calls that I received.
The first concern was that “this law will eliminate all meaningful distinctions between marriage and same sex relationships”. The constituent goes on to say that “we should be strengthening the institution of marriage, not relegating it to a list of options for obtaining government benefits”. That was the first major concern I heard from my constituents and from people all across the country.
The second concern was that “the bill disregards the deeply held beliefs of millions of Canadians, including Christians, Jews, Muslims, Sikhs and many other faith groups”. This is a very difficult area. Some of the statements and some of the critique of the bill made from the faith perspective have been severely criticized. Some of the perspectives from faith groups have been very strongly stated. These are very deeply held values for many people and sometimes their statements are very unfairly criticized.
We just heard a speaker from the New Democratic Party use words like bigotry, intolerance and hate. When views are expressed from a faith perspective on behalf of millions of Canadians, whether they are expressed as temperately as they might be, they have questions that are fair to ask. Labelling their deeply held values as hate, bigotry, intolerance and reprehensible in a free and democratic society should be viewed as very troubling.
We have an obligation, whatever our viewpoint, to debate an issue and to approach it in a very reasonable, logical and temperate way, respecting each other and other viewpoints. To label viewpoints, as people on both sides of the debate have tended to do, is unfortunate, unhelpful and destructive in our society.
I would urge members of the House to understand the feelings on both sides of the debate. The feeling of some groups in society is a feeling of not being treated equally or fairly. Those feelings are legitimate. We need to be respectful of the concerns of other members of society about the values that they hold and about the structures of our society.
My constituent mentions a third concern: “This is a radical change to our legal, social and moral traditions. Such significant changes require that there be ample opportunity for all Canadians to express their views before this bill is passed”.
This has been a continuing concern about the bill, that it is being put forward quickly, without very broad public consultation and debate. Closure was introduced on this bill already. If we are bringing forward measures which affect the fundamental structures of our society and are causing the kind of concern I have seen, then we as members of parliament owe it to the public to have a full hearing before these kinds of changes are made.
On only one other issue have I received such a number of calls, letters and e-mails. That was on the proposed bail-out of professional hockey. I do not know if one would call that a fundamental institution of our society; however, it did bring a lot of public comment when government intervention was proposed.
There has been an assertion by the government that an amendment brought forward by the Minister of Justice would ensure that the definition of marriage in our society would not change. As is known from others who have intervened in this debate, there is legitimate concern about how reliable the minister's assertion is on that point.
As has already been pointed out, one of the senior constitutional lawyers in the country provided an opinion which stated “If parliament intends to state that, as a matter of federal law, marriage is the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others”, which is what the minister says she is stating with her amendment, “then in my opinion the minister's amendment does not achieve that objective”.
We know that there can be a battle of legal opinions. I am sure there will be in court cases on this. However, members of parliament should take seriously the concerns that are raised, backed up by very reliable legal opinion. If we are going to change or interfere with the centuries-old tradition of marriage, then we should do so with full public debate, with a full definition of what we are doing, and we should certainly do that only with the concurrence of the majority of members of our society.