Mr. Speaker, what is important and fundamental here is that we as a federal government also ensure that there is uniformity across the country. In B.C. and in Ontario the law as it currently stands today is the union of two persons. It is no longer the union of a man and a woman. I think we need to take a leadership role to make sure that equality exists throughout the country and not leave it to piecemeal. To have anything less than true equality is not acceptable.
I think that is one of the main things that the justices were saying when they looked at this issue with respect to registered partnerships. It is sort of equal, not quite equal. If we look at segregation, it tends to segregate people.
What we are asking for here is the basic rights that are provided by section 15 of the charter, the right to have access to that institution of marriage, the right to make the same type of commitment that marriage involves and the right to participate in that. That is what we require and it is the only solution that there is here. It has to do with equality before the law for everyone.