Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the hon. member's comments on this particular topic, which is extremely sensitive. It has evoked a lot of emotion from a lot of people in many quarters. All of us understand the sensitivity of this issue because all of us in our ridings have seen how divisive it has been in so many quarters. It is important for any government to respond in a responsible fashion.
I have a couple of questions for the hon. member. As members know full well, it costs about $20,000 an hour to keep this House open. In the course of the debate, every single hour that we are here, those hours are costing the taxpayers money. If we keep on debating and debating, we have to ask ourselves, are we actually going to change anything? Would a continuation of this debate change anybody's mind and anybody's opinion?
The reality is that all members who have dealt with this issue have made up their minds whether they are for or against. Further debate is not going to change anything. There are no more amendments. There is nothing that can be put forward that is going to change anything.
The hon. member said that marriage is a union between a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, with the potential to procreate. Does that mean that women over the age of 50 who get married do not have a marriage?