Madam Speaker, on the issue of same sex marriage it seems to me that the Liberal government, first under the leadership of Jean Chrétien and now under the leadership of the Prime Minister, is pushing ahead to change the definition of marriage, which is the most fundamental and historic of all institutions in our society, and define marriage not as a union between a man and a woman but as a union between two persons. This new definition, of course, would allow couples of the same sex as well as couples of the opposite sex to claim the status of marriage.
My position on same sex marriage is clear and consistent. I will not support any change to the definition of marriage. I believe that marriage is a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
To support my position, we can all agree that since time immemorial in every part of the world and at all times in recorded history every society has recognized and celebrated the public commitment by one man and one woman to each other and called it marriage. It is not for me as a member of Parliament to respond to some temporal pressures and overturn the judgment of history in all parts of the world, in all cultures and at all times.
If we are to be governed by the rule of law, concepts and words that define these concepts, the definition must be consistent within society. We have always taken marriage to be the public commitment by a man and a woman to each other.
There are many kinds of sexual relationships today: married relationships, common law relationships, casual relationships, same sex relationships, premarital relationships and extramarital relationships. Each one of these describes a different kind of conjugal relationship, but only one is marriage.
I will use the analogy of professionals. There are many kinds of professionals in our society. There are lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, architects and so on. Each one is a professional, but a lawyer is not a doctor and an engineer is not an accountant.
While there are many different kinds of conjugal relationships, marriage covers only one definition. Marriage defines a relationship of two people of the opposite sex who have made a public commitment to support each other to the exclusion of all others. Every other sexual relationship is defined by its own words. For that reason, a public commitment to a same sex relationship should be defined in another way.
Society now recognizes that these relationships exist and has extended the same benefits to committed same sex relationships that it has extended to committed heterosexual relationships. There is the equality that they have been demanding.
There are those who say that it is a human right to be able to marry a partner of one's choice, but marriage is not a human right. A human right is an inalienable right, enforceable by law for anyone at any time under any circumstances, from the day we are born to the day we die. Marriage is a commitment and an obligation that men and women enter into on a voluntary basis; it does actually require, before we can get married, that we find somebody who will say yes.
There are many people who would want to marry yet have no recourse in law to do so. We do not allow our children to marry. In fact, I believe that this bill should list a minimum age, because we do not want and will not tolerate nor allow children to marry. In addition, we do not allow close relatives to marry. Therefore, marriage is not an inalienable right enforceable by anyone at any time under any circumstances. Therefore, marriage is not a human right. It is a commitment of choice.
Let us clearly understand the response by the Supreme Court. The first question posed by Mr. Chrétien to the court was, “Can the Parliament of Canada enact the proposed legislation containing two clauses?” The Supreme Court said yes to clause 1, because that is clearly within section 91 of the Constitution Act of 1867, and it said no to clause 2, because it falls within section 92 of the Constitution Act of 1867, which is provincial jurisdiction.
On the second question posed by Mr. Chrétien to the court, “Is this proposed legislation consistent with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?” , the Supreme Court said that if the federal government wants to enact this legislation--and note that I say if the government wants to enact this legislation, not that it must enact this proposed legislation--it is giving more rights to more people. Therefore, using the court's language, it “flows” from the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: giving more people more rights cannot contravene the charter. I want to emphasize the statement by the court to the government that if it wants to enact the legislation, it may do so. There is no compulsion. There is no requirement.
The Supreme Court responded ambiguously to the third question regarding the guarantee of religious freedom and the protection of religious officials from being compelled to perform a marriage between two people of the same sex. The court said:
Absent unique circumstances with respect to which the Court will not speculate...religious freedom in s. 2(a) of the Charter [of Rights and Freedoms] is broad enough to protect religious officials from being compelled to perform...marriages that are contrary to their religious beliefs.
I underline the words “absent unique circumstances with respect to which the Court will not speculate”. The court would not give an ironclad guarantee on religious freedom for officials of religious organizations. I would like members to note that it was absolutely silent on any protection for people who have religious convictions, who are employed as justices of the peace and who could be asked to perform same sex marriages.
As we continue to more broadly define issues regarding morality, we must, by definition, constrain the freedom of those who believe in upholding the current morality. We cannot expand one without constraining the other. It appears that the Supreme Court is saying that secular rights trump religious rights when it comes to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Jean Chrétien gave us an assurance that if the Liberal government enacted the proposed legislation to allow marriage for same sex couples, he would also guarantee religious freedom and not require religious officials to perform same sex marriages. Based on the reference reply by the Supreme Court, the federal government cannot provide this assurance for religious freedom. Therefore, in my opinion, the federal government should not proceed with the introduction of this legislation.
So where are we today? By virtue of inaction and lack of leadership by the Liberal government, same sex marriages are the law of the land in half the country and not the law of the land in the other half of the country. The right of Canadians to express their religious opinion that marriage is only between a man and a woman is being constrained.
From the reply of the Supreme Court to the reference, Parliament has the right to define marriage any way it wants since that falls within its authority, and the government may use that authority to define marriage as a union between two persons. The Supreme Court said that was okay.
Let me say again that based on the response by the Supreme Court the government cannot deliver on its commitment to freedom of religion. For that reason, I believe that the government should refrain from proceeding with legislation to change the definition of marriage at this time. However, if the government does proceed with the legislation to change the definition of marriage, Parliament should defeat the proposed legislation.