Thank you, Madam Chairperson. I will be very brief. First of all, I will be supporting this bill. I want to recognize that rights of individuals don't evolve with the times. I won't go on at length, but I really believe in that.

Although many of my colleagues here, I wish to stress, will not be supporting this bill, I do personally want to applaud that they are following their personal beliefs. I know that this is a decisive issue with a lot of people out there. Even with my constituency I have had calls on both sides of the equation. I want to emphasize that I do have personal respect for those who choose to vote against this; I recognize that that is their choice. They are following the beliefs and feelings of their constituencies, as well as their religious and personal beliefs. So I want to recognize that officially.

I will say just quickly before I close, I think this is a principle bill which really takes the debate out of it. We can either have the courts institute this by telling us to make these adjustments or we can make these adjustments on our own terms. That being said, we can write our own legislation, rather than the Supreme Court of the land telling us how to write it.

In closing, Madam Chairperson, I just want to emphasize that there truly are people on both sides of this equation and it is important to recognize and hear their voices as well, but, at this time, I will be voting in favour of this bill because I believe it is the correct thing to do. Thank you, Madam Chairperson.