Mr. Speaker, what is happening here is an abandonment of family values by the Liberal government and a clear display of hypocrisy when it comes to defending traditional families.
By the lack of will on the part of the justice minister and the Liberal government to appeal the Rosenberg decision what is happening is that the Liberal government is allowing the courts to bypass parliament and to rewrite federal laws.
The Reform Party motion reads:
That, in the opinion of this House, federal legislation should not be altered by judicial rulings, as happened in the redefinitions of the term “spouse” in the Rosenberg decision, and that, accordingly, the government should immediately appeal the Rosenberg decision.
The purpose of our motion is to try to put the Liberals' feet to the fire and get them to come out clearly on one side or the other. The reason I say they have displayed hypocrisy is they are clearly not going to appeal that decision.
I have some letters here. One is from the justice minister. I quote from a portion of the letter that she wrote on April 29 of this year:
The definition of marriage in federal law is not in a statute passed by parliament, but is found in what is called the federal common law dating from an 1866 British case of Hyde and Hyde v Woodmansee—This case has been applied consistently in Canada and states that no marriage can exist between two persons of the same sex, or between multiple wives or husbands.
Thus, the definition of marriage is already clear in law in Canada as the union of two persons of the opposite sex. Counsel from my department have successfully defended, and will continue to defend, this concept of marriage in court.
That is the key part of her letter.
That concept and that term has just been rewritten by the federal court. Now the justice minister is unwilling to intervene and to appeal that decision. The reason I use the word hypocrisy is how can she clearly state in a letter dated April 29 that the government will defend this concept of marriage that we have had from the beginning of the history of our country, but now in the face of losing that she is not prepared to act?
I have another letter dated February 24 of last year from the current health minister in which says basically the same thing. For quite some time Liberal cabinet ministers seem to have had no difficulty in writing down and stating in no uncertain terms their willingness to defend the traditional family. But now in the face of this decision by a court they are willing to completely reverse themselves on that issue. The implications of this are very significant.
Most important is the issue of who is supreme in this country with respect to law making. Is it the judiciary or parliament? Time and time again we see cases where judges are rewriting law and parliament seems to be unwilling to stand up and exercise what should be our supreme authority, law making.
The Rosenberg ruling which came down April 23 in the Ontario Court of Appeal changed the definition of the term spouse in the Income Tax Act to include same sex relationships.
Parliament writes the laws in this country and the courts are there to apply them. The courts should not create public policy because judges are not elected legislators. It is not their place.
Clearly the justice minister should appeal the Rosenberg decision in order to protect the definition of the term spouse and to uphold parliament's role as the supreme law making authority in Canada. Failure to do so will prove that the Liberals are less interested in protecting families and more interested in pursuing a social engineering agenda.
What strikes me as even more hypocritical is that currently before the House of Commons is Bill C-37, an act to amend the Judges Act. Written within that legislation is a definition of spouse which includes a person of the opposite sex. There is consistency between the letters of the cabinet ministers I have referred to and legislation coming from their departments. But there is no consistency with that and their lack of willingness to intervene against the decision of the court.
Why is the definition of spouse a concern? Governments have authorized many benefits under the term spouse, including income tax deductions, eligibility for pensions, spousal benefits, employee fringe benefits, et cetera. They have authorized that to opposite sex couples specifically because of the role they play in procreation and the raising of children.
By tradition and nature the terms spouse and marriage refer to the union of a man and a woman. Such a cornerstone of public policy ought not to be changed by the courts. Rather if the government is committed to such a change, it should be done in the full light of parliamentary debate.
The lack of willingness for the Liberal government to appeal that decision simply amounts to hiding behind the judicial decision and not taking the responsibility to debate this and other similar type issues in which judges have rewritten laws, to bring it to parliament and debate it. It is hiding behind judges' rulings instead of confronting the issue head on and showing some leadership. That is what we see repeatedly from this Liberal government, a lack of leadership.
Here is an opportunity for the Liberals to display leadership, to be consistent with their previously stated positions. Instead they are going to hide behind the decision of a judge and overturn the definition of a spouse which has stood throughout the history of our country.
I will quote the current health minister when he was the justice minister. He said the courts should not make policy or rewrite statutes, that that is the role of parliament. How then can he sit in the House today and act in complete contradiction to what he stated on October 25, 1994? Again it is clear, blatant hypocrisy.
I would also like to point out that in the 35th parliament Motion No. M-264 proposing the legal recognition of same sex spouses was defeated in this House by a vote of 52 to 124, almost a three to one margin.
The will of parliament on this issue is clear. Why then are the courts writing it in when parliament has clearly already said no? The courts are overstepping their boundaries. They are overstepping their jurisdiction. This government really should demonstrate some leadership and demonstrate to Canadians and the courts that the supremacy in law making in this country lies in this House, not at the discretion of appointed judges.
