Madam Speaker, I was disappointed to learn a moment ago that the Minister of Canadian Heritage will not be replying to my question tonight regarding Victoria Crosses and their importance to Canadian history and that the answer will come from the Parliament Secretary to the Minister of the Environment. My disappointment is no reflection on the parliamentary secretary, but I am very disappointed that the Minister of Canadian Heritage seems to believe that this is such an unimportant issue that she would not respond to me.
I asked very respectfully on December 3, 2004 how the minister intended to ensure that the medals that are important to the history of this country are not sold. She very bluntly told me that she totally rejected the premise of my question. It was an honourable question and a serious question.
The Victoria Cross is the realm's highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy. It has precedence over any other of the sovereign's awards. The cross itself is cast from the bronze of cannons captured at Sebastopol during the Crimean War. The design chosen by Queen Victoria consists of a cross pattée ensigned over a royal crest.
There were only 1,351 Victoria Crosses awarded worldwide since 1856 and 94 Victoria Crosses have gone to Canadians. It is my intent through a private member's bill to ensure that we not only uphold the rights of private property and give people the right to sell these medals if they choose to, but I want to ensure that Canada as a country has the right of first refusal to buy those medals.
We have had cases where medals have been sold out of the country. If it were not for a very distinguished member of this society, we would have lost the John McCrae medal. I do not believe that we should be in a position where we are depending on independent business people in this country to save these medals. It is the responsibility and the job of our government.
My private member's bill I hope will make it to the floor before the end of this session because this is something that I do not want to see repeated again. These are very important medals. They are a part of our history. If we allow them to be sold without having any checks and balances in place, I think we have made a serious mistake.
If it were not for the National Post 's Chris Wattie writing a story that went across the country and caused the outrage of legion members and citizens alike, we may not have even known someone was going to try to sell this particular cross. That is something that needs to be stopped, and it needs to be stopped now.
I want to ask for the cooperation of the Minister of Canadian Heritage and the Minister of Veterans Affairs to work with me to try to put something together that would ensure that Canada's history stays in Canada. Many men have given their lives. In many cases they have been wounded and have suffered from those wounds for the rest of their living days. I think the Victoria Cross and other crosses awarded for valour are something worth fighting for.