Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to speak to report stage of Bill C-23. Bill C-23 would give out marriage-like benefits while failing to define marriage in legislation. Bill C-23 would remove any sort of unique public policy recognition of the institution of marriage.
The official opposition has tabled close to 100 amendments to Bill C-23, which would amend 68 pieces of legislation. The Canadian Alliance amendments, if passed, would define the terms “spouse” and “marriage” in each of the statutes affected by Bill C-23. In our amendments the term “spouse” would be defined as either a man or a woman who has entered into a marriage. The term “marriage” would be defined as the lawful union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others. Why is that so threatening to some?
The approach by the justice minister in her amendment is an insincere attempt to alleviate widespread concern about Bill C-23 stripping away any unique public policy recognition of the institution of marriage.
After much public outcry and pressure from members of her own party, the minister proposed to add an interpretation clause to Bill C-23, stating that the bill does not affect the meaning of the word marriage. The legal affect of an interpretation clause in an omnibus bill like Bill C-23 is uncertain at best. Here are the facts.
Bill C-23 is an omnibus bill which would amend dozens of statutes. Thus, if the bill is passed, the justice minister's marriage amendment would appear nowhere in the consolidated statutes. It would not be seen by anyone looking at the online version of any of the acts modified by Bill C-23.
The minister is taking the easy way out by using the backdoor approach. Why not affirm the institution of marriage by using the appropriate legislative tool? Furthermore, the minister's amendment only affects the provisions of Bill C-23. Will we have to have an amendment every time the word marriage comes up in legislation in the future? We do not know that yet, but I am pretty sure this is another one that will keep lawyers very busy.
In committee a motion to clarify that the definition of marriage is the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others for the purposes of Canadian law was voted down. The justice department officials said that a charter amendment would be necessary to effectively protect the definition of marriage. I find that rather strange, based on a vote taken in the House, but I will talk about that later.
The justice minister's amendment shows that the Liberals are under intense public pressure on this bill. Regrettably, the minister's interpretation clause of marriage would have little legal weight. In other words, her amendment would not truly protect marriage in legislation. She is just playing the political game.
The approach of the official opposition would be to define the terms “spouse” and “marriage” in each of the statutes amended by Bill C-23. We would be clear and our approach would be meaningful about what these important social policy terms legally mean. If the Liberals vote against these amendments, they are voting against the definition of marriage in federal law.
On June 8, 1999 parliament passed a motion by a vote of 216 to 55 to take all the necessary steps to preserve the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. The result of that vote was pretty definitive. It was not even close.
It is time for the government to act on this directive and show some courage against those who would want to destroy it.
The Liberals are pandering to those who want to devalue marriage as a cornerstone of public policy. Marriage produces real and tangible public policy benefits. Liberal cabinet ministers cannot get their stories straight on who would qualify for benefits as a result of Bill C-23.
The justice minister says that Bill C-23 would not extend benefits and obligations to individuals in other relationships of economic and emotional interdependence like ordinary roommates.
The Secretary of State for Multiculturalism, the hon. member for Vancouver Centre, said that one would not have to have a physical relationship to qualify for benefits under Bill C-23.
Who do we believe? The Minister of Justice who says only opposite or same sex couples involved in a sexual relationship, or the secretary of state who says there does not have to be a sexual aspect to the relationship? All of this is very confusing coming from ministers of the government.
Getting back to the minister's solution to sorting out the mess she created, allow me to read a legal analysis of her amendment as offered by the law firm Stikeman Elliott, which is a very well respected firm in Toronto, especially for its litigation department. It also practises corporate and administrative law. It has practised before the supreme courts of Canada and all over the country, and we should respect what it has to say about this law. It certainly has as much knowledge of what will happen as a result of the bill as any of the lawyers working for the ministry. I quote what that firm had to say about Bill C-23:
In sum, the justice minister's amendment would operate to tell the courts that any of the amendments made by the bill were intended not to affect the meaning of the word marriage. This would only have a practical effect if one of the specific acts already contain the definition of the word marriage in some part of the act not amended by the bill. It would be difficult to see what use courts could make of the interpretive guide offered by the minister's amendment.
Allow me to quote further from the legal opinion:
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, then in my opinion the minister's amendment does not achieve that objective.
That quote comes from Stikeman Elliott, one of the most respected law firms in the country. It stated that in its opinion the minister's amendment does not achieve the objective it is trying to achieve.
The minister's amendment is ambiguous and does not send a clear directive to the courts about the definition of marriage. What does that mean? It means that millions of dollars will be spent over the next number of years with lawyers going to the courts trying to seek a definition.
Why would parliament, when it has the opportunity at report stage, not put forward proper amendments to the bill to make sure that we tell the supreme court and the other courts what the definition of marriage is when it was voted on by an overwhelming majority of members of parliament? But the minister's bill, according to Stikeman Elliott's report, does not achieve that objective.
The same legal opinion offers three methods which would constitute clarity and weight for the courts. The first would be to amend the Marriage Act to include a specific definition of marriage. The second would be to amend the bill to include an enacting section which would provide that, for the purposes of all federal legislation, the word “marriage” would mean the lawful union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. That has already been voted on by the House and the government should be taking the directive it was given by a very big majority of members of the House. The third would be to amend the bill to include amendments to each affected act, enacting in each such act a specific definition of the word “marriage”.
Bill C-23 is a very flawed piece of legislation. That has been indicated not only by opposition members of the House, but by members of the government who have spoken against parts of the bill. We have an opportunity at report stage to move amendments which have been recommended by major law firms from across Canada and the government should take them seriously.
The Liberals refuse to be clear on who qualifies for benefits. They refuse to deal with the definition of marriage and they refuse to stand for the family.
There is an opportunity at this stage to vote for amendments which could change that opinion, which is shared by many Canadians and many law firms.
I thank the House for the opportunity to put forward not only my opinions, but those of many legal people from across Canada and those of Canadians concerning the faults of this bill.