Colleen Beaumier

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I rise on a point of order. I am asking the minister his positions. I am asking what he is about to do.

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I would say that answer means no, so I see that the Reform and the Alliance policies live on.

Many NGOs that approached me in fear that they would not receive funding for anti-racism programs finally received their funding on March 28, two days before the end of the fiscal year. That is not much time in which to spend the money. Was that a deliberate attempt to cut back this programming?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, once again I did not get my question answered, and I do know who these people are.

I have to say that “mainstream” sounds to me like a euphemism for “eliminate”. Does this minister not believe that Canada's multiculturalism program should receive federal funding on its own, yes or no?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, please let me ask the minister for an answer one more time. The department's 2007-08 plans and priorities say that its mandate is to “mainstream multiculturalism into the day-to-day operations of the Department”.

I will try this question. Canadian Heritage is planning to “mainstream multiculturalism”. Once that happens, will the multiculturalism program exist as an independent program and receive funding directly, yes or no?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, just for the minister's information, her department's own financial summary indicates zero. Where is the departmental steering committee on multiculturalism, who is on it and what is its mandate?

[Business of Supply, May 16th, 2007]

Mr. Chair, I want to know how much new funding the government has allocated for multiculturalism programs intended to promote intercultural understanding in 2006 to 2009.

[Chinese Exclusion Act, May 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House to recognize and to commemorate May 14, 2007, a day which marks the 60th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act by Mackenzie King's Liberal government.

The Chinese Exclusion Act, and the head tax it followed, is a blight on Canada's history of tolerance and diversity, and an affront to the values all of us hold dear today.

Liberals understand that an apology is an essential part of the healing process for a community that was once the victim of past injustices. For this reason, in 2005, the member for LaSalle—Émard, as the Prime Minister of our country, apologized to the Chinese community for the head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act. That apology expressed on behalf of all Canadians our regret for the hardship and difficulties inflicted on those victims and their families directly affected by the Chinese head tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Liberals also believe it is critical that there is an appropriate plan to educate Canadians on this chapter of our history. That is why we signed an agreement in principle with several communities to provide funding for education and commemoration initiatives.

We hope that the government will honour these agreements and deliver in full the funds that were committed by us. This would allow those communities to shed a new perspective on their past, share their histories, educate us all, and help ensure that these kinds of injustices are not repeated in the future.

Canadians should also reflect today on what is required of our government to ensure these kinds of grave injustices are not repeated in the future. That is why the Liberal opposition has voiced its disapproval of the Conservative government's decision to cancel the court challenges program, which provided an important tool for Canadians to exercise and defend their charter of rights.

As the member for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville said recently in a speech commemorating the anniversary of the charter, the legacy of the charter is too precious for us to remain indifferent to those who, through antagonism or neglect, would seek to undermine it. There are still battles to be fought. There are still rights to be won.

Finally, and most important, let us also celebrate today the extraordinary success that Canadians of Chinese origin have achieved. The talent and energy that they have brought to Canada has contributed to our success as a country, whether in business, the professions or in politics. Today Chinese Canadians are truly the face of Canada, as demonstrated by our former Governor General who, as a woman and Canadian of Chinese origin, has raised the profile of Chinese Canadians here at home and around the world.

Today's anniversary presents us with an opportunity not only to remember those who overcame adversity and injustice but to cherish and protect the foundations of tolerance and diversity on which Canada is built. Only by defending the values of equality and respect on which our society depends can we ensure that injustice is avoided.

Today, let us remember and learn from the grave injustices of the past and let us work together to create a future where these injustices are all but impossible.

[Chinese Exclusion Act, May 14th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, today I rise in the House to recognize and to commemorate May 14, 2007, a day that marks the 60th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

Anniversaries such as this are always Janus-faced. Looking forward, it befits us all to celebrate the passing of a regrettable time in our recent history. Looking backward, we must also lament the very great injustice perpetrated by the Government of Canada.

Only those directly affected by the head tax will ever truly understand the tremendous hardship it created. Nevertheless, all of us can and must recognize this hardship and learn from it.

History cannot be re-written but the future remains ours to write. By recognizing and commemorating the repeal of the Chinese Exclusion Act, we remember those who suffered unnecessarily and we make a firm commitment never to perpetrate the same injustice again.

[Old Age Security Act, May 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, you are kind. I know the member for Wild Rose has a heart as big as his personality. I would be more than happy to discuss this bill with him when we are out back.

[Old Age Security Act, May 11th, 2007]

Mr. Speaker, I am delighted to respond to that question.

I grew up in Chatham, Ontario. It is where I got my values. I remember when I was a young girl of about 17 years that the Czechoslovakians were coming to Canada and people in my family and others were scraping together furniture and clothing for them. We do not have to do that any more. Our economic situation is not the same as it was. My great-grandmother did not have any pension. Should everyone today be denied a pension because the people before us did not have one?

This is progression. That argument is similar to people who say that their kids do not need a new school, that they went to a school of a certain condition and if it was good enough for them, it should be good enough for their kids. It is not that kind of attitude that makes this country grow.