But first and foremost, I believe the quality of any democracy should be judged upon how well it protects and treats it's minorities.

Ditto. What bothers me is not the bill itself or the fact that it was passed. It's the manner in which it was passed - ie in direct violation of the fundamental principles of democracy (see Webster's definition above, not Hansard's). This may sound hopelessly idealistic, but I think it's short-sighted and most unwise to sacrifice those principles, for the sake of expedience, under any circumstances. Even if what you want to expediate is the legitimate agenda(s) of any political lobby / "group of citizens".