Hon. Marty Deacon: Thank you, colleagues. Thank you, Senator MacDonald. I’ll start by saying that your amendment and your comments on talking and courage are extremely important and compelling — and both have been part of my big challenge in decision making regarding this bill, so thank you.

I’m going to speak very briefly this evening. I’m in absolutely no rush to repeat what we have heard over the past year in committee, in our communities, in this chamber, in the other place or in the media. It has been a challenge to decipher what is real, true and accurate — and what is not.

As senators, we are not — and cannot be — the experts of everything. Instead, we need to be informed, listen closely and ask for clarification from a variety of sources. I thank the experts and the stakeholders that we have all heard from on this, both in committee and in our offices, with a variety of perspectives.

Colleagues, though I don’t sit on the committee that looked at Bill C-11, I followed the committee work, read and reread the transcripts and asked questions where I could right up until this moment. When I stepped off of the plane in Ottawa on Monday, I was still unsure about how I would vote on this bill. I share this because our job, as I see it, is to know as best we can what this bill will do, as well as the impact it will have on Canadians as individuals and as a country. My job is not to cheerlead a bill through to Royal Assent because the government wishes it to be. It has been clear to me since that first call from the Prime Minister informing me of my impending appointment that if the wishes are for true independence, there will be many days when we disagree. My voting record demonstrates this.

From my perspective, the bill, while deeply vetted, still falls short in some areas. Bill C-11 will not leave everybody happy — legislation rarely does. But this bill, for me, is a strong reminder, again, of what our role is as senators, and what our role is not.

The legislation in all of its iterations has been served second thought, third thought, fourth sober thought and then some. This message that I have just shared with you is proof that we did all we could to make it better. We’ve seen this, whether it has been debate on this bill directly or yesterday evening’s debate on the procedure around this bill.

Like Senator Housakos said last night, debate is so important in the Senate; it’s more important, frankly, than these scripted speeches and statements that we make at times. Last night, in a time of very divergent thinking and emotion, I was very proud to be a senator. At midnight, with a full chamber, we could all see the passion, the presence and the purpose of our collective work and desires. The will to act and the will to speak are both based on conviction and courage. I was reminded, again, of how important this is at every moment and juncture in our work. Even at that later hour, many of us lingered following adjournment — continuing discussions we had heard or had been part of in the hours earlier in order to clarify and recognize very different opinions. Even then, I was still working through my decision on this bill.

I woke up very early this morning, grabbed an umbrella and walked the streets of Ottawa. Through the solitude and quiet of the rain, I decided that, yes, I will vote in favour of this message before us because of what I have just mentioned.

On this, we’ve had dialogue at every level for a very long time. While it’s not exactly what I hope for it to look like, I can live with it — not with a pushover attitude, but in hopes that we monitor and keep our eye on this. I think we should be proud of the work that has been done on this legislation through the hard work of many of you in this chamber. It has made this bill better.

My final thought — and it’s probably my dominating thought — is that this bill must be well monitored for its intended and unintended circumstances. Senators, since I arrived, we have not done well on our commitment to review bills as stipulated in legislation. I do ask about this often during Question Period, and we simply have to do better.

Senators, I support this message, and I support Bill C-11, but I insist that we keep our eyes and ears open as this bill comes to life. Thank you. Meegwetch.