Mr. Speaker, I can only speak for myself. As I told the hon. member and his colleague, I consistently have always voted the way I have. As I explained to my hon. colleague, my constituents have always known my voting record and where I stand on this issue.
I urge on the hon. member the fact that people evolve. Ideas change. The courts themselves I do not think would have ruled the way they did in recent years immediately upon the passage of the charter, for example. I think that people and society evolve. They analyze what is the right thing to do. We seek to change opinions if we believe that they are wrong.
I think this government has rightly been guided by the Supreme Court, to which we asked to reference, and has been rightly guided by the courts of all the other jurisdictions in Canada that ruled the way that they have. Our obligation surely as law makers is to seek to understand not just our own attitudes and our own views, but how the law fits within the overall framework of the society in which we live. As I pointed out earlier in my speech, that framework is established by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I would ask my friend to be tolerant of those, like those in his own party who intend to vote for this legislation, and recognize that they too have struggled with this and see this as a culmination of a charter issue, but also an issue of the affirmation of the rights of the individual and recognize that people will change, people will work to understand what they should be doing. All of us on all sides of the House on this issue are struggling to do the best we can for our country and our conscience.