Mr. Speaker, I have another petition to present, one of 118 pages with 1,704 names on the issue of preserving marriage. This is a very good petition. It is different in wording from some of the others. It mentions the necessity of our government upholding the historical, biological, cultural and religious definition of marriage and states that marriage is between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others.
The petitioners are asking Parliament to guarantee the freedom of speech for grandparents, parents, teachers, counsellors, ethnic minorities and religious people when they promote the benefits of traditional marriage, and therefore, they are asking the government to protect the children so that they will have the right to be raised by their biological fathers and mothers. I want to say that the names on the petition clearly indicate that it comes from a wide variety of ethnic backgrounds. I recommend that Parliament start listening to these petitions instead of having them tabled and made to disappear into the backroom.