Blah bla blah -- but vital blah
The prime minster's
gay marriage speech is here. He mentioned the Charter of Rights and Freedoms 23 times in the first half or so (when I stopped counting). Hansard will have the complete debate posted soon.
ADDENDUM: Opposition leader Stephen Harper responded that same-sex marriage is not a fundamental right (and I agree with him there -- I don't believe that marriage of any kind is a fundamental right, though the right to consensual relationships for all should be). Continuing to play on the idea that racial and religious minorities are opposed to queer rights, Harper said that gay marriage is "an assault on muticulturalism."
ADDENDUM The Hansard official record of the
debate is here. The Civil Marriage Act presentation began at 15:20pm -- but there was at least one petition presented and a couple of questions asked earlier in the day. Hansard is edited: politicians are given a chance to clean up their talk -- I mean, to correct any transciption errors prior to publication (for a plodding but information-filled look at Hansard, check out the 1980 tome "The Hansard Chronicles," by John Ward, at one time the associate editor of debates for the House of Commons).