Madam Speaker, the final petition has to do with the use of the notwithstanding clause, again in reference to the issue of marriage. The petitioners would like to draw to the attention of the House that fundamental matters of social policy should be decided by elected members of Parliament and not by the unelected judiciary, and also that it is the duty of Parliament to ensure that marriage is defined as Canadians wish it to be defined.
Therefore they call upon Parliament to use all legislative and administrative measures possible, including the invocation of section 33 of the charter, commonly referred to as the notwithstanding clause, to preserve and protect the current definition of marriage as being the legal union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.