Mr. Speaker, that is a very legitimate question. I want to assure the hon. member that I have been engaged in my community.
In fact if he checks my voting record, he will see that on every occasion when this matter has come before the House, I have consistently voted that I oppose retaining the traditional definition of marriage because I believe for the reasons I have set out before the House today, that it impedes the ability of society to make progress. That has been my consistent position since 1993 when I was first elected. I have been re-elected every time with increasing majorities.
I would like the hon. member to note that in my riding by the way, given the nature of my constituency, I have sent a householder to every member of the riding clearly laying out my perspective. My constituents know my perspective. They have known it for years. Yet I will tell the hon. member that in the last election I got the highest majority I have ever had. Curiously enough my Conservative opponent, who only had 6,000 votes which is unusual for my riding, actually was a woman who said that she agreed with my position.
My constituents recognize that this is the way we have to go. They have problems with it, of course they do. But I am comfortable with the fact that I have been consulting my constituents and they have consulted with me in the results in the last election. I recommend that the hon. member look at those results.