Mr. Speaker, I appreciated the hon. member's comments, even though I profoundly disagree with virtually everything that she said.
That is the great thing. We on this side at least believe in a free vote and free expression and the divergence of opinion on something as controversial as expanding the definition of marriage to include same sex couples.
We believe that the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada put forward a well thought out compromise position that the vast majority of Canadians would support and actually do support.
It is interesting that Liberal members in particular who support this bill try to frame the discussion around the issue of rights. Yet, speaking as the House leader for the official opposition, I can say that many of my colleagues wanted the opportunity to speak to this legislation at report stage. They were denied that last night when the three other parties in this chamber conspired together and were complicit in bringing forward a seldom used Standing Order to shut down debate.
The reality is that the government shut down the rights of members of Parliament to represent their constituents today as well. There will be many members of Parliament from all parties, but in particular I want to speak on behalf of my colleagues in the Conservative Party, who will be denied the right to represent their constituents and voice those concerns here during the debate, despite the fact the government House leader said there would be adequate debate. Yet, he is shutting down this debate.
The member was talking about rights. Could she address the rights of members of Parliament to represent their constituents by adequately speaking to this bill at report stage and third reading?