Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to present 10 petitions, primarily signed by the fine constituents of Canada's most beautiful constituency, Portage--Lisgar, in the centre of the country.
These petitions all deal with the issue of marriage. There is a total of approximately 13,070 signatories to these 10 petitions, each of which supports marriage as it has traditionally been defined. It asks us to acknowledge that the Supreme Court has recognized Parliament's jurisdiction in defining marriage. It also asks us to support the notion that marriage is the union of one man and one woman, and that it is a fundamental building block of society and represents the best environment for raising of children.
They ask us as members of Parliament to respect, uphold and support the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. It is my honour to present these petitions to the House today.