Mr. Speaker, who among us would dare consider returning to a debate on the rights of women in our society or the rights of visible minorities? I speak with confidence when I say that I doubt anyone here would even consider such a discussion valid or tolerable. Indeed, no such topic would ever be tolerable for debates anywhere in this country, and rightfully so.
The hard won liberties of so many Canadians are enshrined within our laws and engraved into the hearts and souls of our great country and yet today the government has chosen to return to a debate that should have long since ended and a reconsideration of rights not only hard won but even late in coming to gays and lesbians in this country.
On February 1, 2005, our former Liberal prime minister, the member for LaSalle—Émard, introduced a bill to extend to gays and lesbians the right to marry. In so doing, he, along with my colleagues and I in the Liberal government, began the final steps in what had been a very long journey for those seeking full and equal rights in this country.
What could be more fundamental than to have the right to marry someone who we love and care for and someone with whom we wish to share our lives? All the gay and lesbian community asked for was that the state recognize their union as it does the union of their fellow citizens. The answer is that nothing could be more fundamental than having the government send a clear message that its laws are a recognition of the importance of a stable and committed same sex relationship.
This equal marriage act was tantamount to declaring from the very heights of Parliament Hill, the very centre of our country, that no form of bigotry or intolerance would be considered acceptable toward any citizen of Canada for any reason.
For many years, before Bill C-38 on same sex marriage was adopted, gays and lesbians had to fight in court to have their right to equality respected.
When the Liberal government made a reference to the Supreme Court, the latter ruled that measures had to be taken to ensure that gays and lesbians be given the same treatment as other Canadians.
It was with courage, conviction and a deep sense of justice that the Liberal government and many members of the House of Commons took these measures in accordance with the opinion of the highest court of the land.
It is important and fair to recognize that as a result of court decisions some provinces were already embracing equality and allowing equal marriage. Eight of our provinces and one of our territories saw the reality of equal marriage even before the equal marriage act was passed.
In revisiting equal marriage, the government is not only casting an eye backward, it is attempting to move in a direction that is completely out of turn with the movement toward equality that has begun to take hold around the world. In bringing the motion before the House, the government is attempting to create two classes of citizens with two different sets of rights. It is clearly an affront to our democratic and equality based traditions as a country.
From the Netherlands to Belgium, from Spain to South Africa and, more recently, in judicial decisions in Israel, people across the world are beginning to deal with the injustice of laws that preclude equal marriage.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms enshrined in our Constitution clearly identifies all Canadians as equal under the law. These are inalienable rights that simply cannot be sacrificed upon the altar of political expediency.
The right to equal marriage now woven into the very fabric of our nation's identity is not simply a concept to be negotiated between those fortunate enough to sit in this chamber.
We who share the same moment of life are called upon not to languish in the drudgery of petty debates about the equality of others but to rise to the soaring pinnacle that is wide enough for all of us to rest upon and then to cast our gaze across the beautiful landscape of human equality and the fullness of our human potential.
The equal marriage act was about fairness. It was and is about allowing all citizens to stand before their peers in equality. No citizen of this country should feel less than his or her fellow Canadian.
Those who would grab hold of the hands of time that have already marched forward and wrestled them back ought to summon even the most minute speck of empathy and, in so doing, bring a glowing light to illuminate the way forward for them and for us all.
My community is not unlike most of the communities that we here are honoured and privileged to represent in this House. There are those who in good conscience support equal marriage and those who have difficulty with the concept.
However, I believe very strongly that most of those I represent recognize the importance of the grand ideals in our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They know, as I do, that the rights of those who seek same sex marriage need to be respected, as do the rights of those who, through religious convictions, do not wish to participate or support equal marriage. Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms also protects their religious beliefs and I can assure the House that I respect and demand for them the same protections under our laws that I call upon for gays and lesbians.
The equal marriage act was a milestone in the path toward full equality for gays and lesbians. It was a line in the sand drawn across the landscape of our history that announced to all Canadians and to the world that intolerance and discrimination based on sexual orientation was now a part of our history where it so clearly belonged.
Our votes in support of equal marriage were very much more than an act to allow gays and lesbians to marry. When we supported the equal marriage act, we engraved into the essence of our country's soul a beautiful equality for those who had for so long been the target of marginalization, persecution and outrageous injustice.
The reality of the equal marriage act is that all Canadians have the right to have their loving relationships formally recognized. My partner of 12 years and I deserve the same rights as all other members of this House and all other Canadians.
Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms states that “every individual is equal before and under the law...”. It is my right and it is a right we all have and deserve.
In bringing forward this debate once again, the government rekindles the embers of inequality that have, for gays and lesbians, burned through their hearts and souls for far too long. I call upon my colleagues of all parties in this House to put out the fires of injustice, to extinguish the flames of intolerance and to bury the unseemly glow of inequality.
Let the light that shines forth from this House today be one of a warm embrace. Let us extend a welcome to all citizens of this great country to join together in equality and unity.
I ask all members to please join me in voting, not only against this resolution but for equality. We have no need to look to the past when the future holds such wonderful promise and immense opportunity for us all, equal and united in our common humanity and our common purpose.
When the sun finally sets on our individual lives, today will be remembered as an important day. In voting for equality, we will have invited all of us to live a meaningful and loving existence shared with those they love and among those who we have the honour to call our fellow and equal citizens.