Mr. Speaker, I do not know if the hon. member is aware of this but I have a copy of a letter sent to me which was dated August 10, 1999 when the present Minister of Health was the then minister of justice. At that time she had received I believe a petition about changing the definition of marriage. She wrote a letter to the gentleman in B.C. and explained to the man that his concerns were serious however the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others was already the clear law in Canada, and she stated she would like to take the opportunity to clarify why.
The minister said that the definition of marriage in federal law was not in a statute passed by Parliament but was found in the federal common law dating from 1866, the British case of Hyde and Hyde v. Woodmansee. She said that the case had been applied consistently in Canada and stated that no marriage could exist between two persons of the same sex.
I do not know if the member is aware of that.
However since 1999 the present Minister of Health, who was the then minister of justice, has stated unequivocally that marriage is between man and woman and can not be between anyone else. I cannot understand why she would even think of voting in favour of this. Can the member understand it?