Mr. Speaker, my colleague has raised some very important points in that this goes to the whole argument that people have the right to be treated differently. This society cannot be founded on that principle. Society has to respect the rights of all individuals. If we are going to make arbitrary decisions about who can have a different categorization of rights, then we will see challenges in the court system in the future. Also, it is fundamentally wrong for a nation to progress in that way.
I mentioned my own personal relationship with someone of a different ethnic origin and that there has been a very negative stigma related to it. We have not even solved that in our society. That is why it is important for us as Canadians and parliamentarians to not try to to do something through the back door in terms of changing rights of individuals when we know it is going to be thrown back to the courts. Once again it makes it very interesting because those who want to do that will simply end up throwing everything back to the courts that they have been criticizing from day one. I do not think that is leadership.
I noted the fact that there are only four jurisdictions left in Canada that do not have this equality. That is about 10% of the population, which means that 90% of the population have already been marrying same sex couples. Some have been doing it for years. Those couples are in society. They are on my street and in my neighbourhood. I have not witnessed the erosion of the family unit. In fact, I have seen a strengthening in many respects because I have seen people being able to express themselves in a way that has less restrictions. That is very important for those individuals.
If we are going to have a different categorization of individuals, it is a slippery slope for Canadian society. It opens the door for other possibilities that would be very negative. It is very important that we do not allow people to be categorized differently.
The courts have already decided this issue in many respects. They have said that we cannot treat people differently. Why would we want to throw this issue back to the courts at the expense of Canadian citizens who are law abiding, pay their taxes, participate in the community and only want to celebrate their love and relationship in an equal manner?
Approximately 3,000 individuals across Canada have been married since 2002. We are talking about a very small percentage of the population, which I do not think undermines any other type of marriage. I do not think it hurts Canadian society. In fact, it only progresses us by once again defining that civil liberties and rights in Canada are ensured and that Parliament will participate in that debate.