Mr. Speaker, I am going to start my remarks a little differently. I am going to try to tell a bit of a story.
Let us picture ourselves as my seven-year-old daughter and living in the southern United States in the 1830s. Life is not good. We utilize what was then known as the Underground Railway and make our way up. It is not a simple journey where people just grab a ticket, hop on the train and off they go. It is done at night. It is done, quite frequently, by foot. People need to use code words and travel constantly in fear that they may be recaptured and put back into slavery. Eventually, though, we make it to the Canadian border, or Upper Canada as it was known then, and cross that border. We feel that inspiration of hope. We know we are somewhere safer but we do not stop quite yet. We keep on going and travel to the most northern terminal of the Underground Railway, the village as Sydenham, now known as Owen Sound which, I am proud to say, is in my riding of Bruce—Grey—Owen Sound.
The only reason my daughter has to make that escape is because she happens to be of colour. It is sad, but I am glad that Canada has such a rich history and my riding has such a rich history in abolishing slavery. That Underground Railway helped free 30,000 to 40,000 slaves during its time of operation. It offered that beacon of hope. It gave people of Black descent an opportunity to settle, raise their families and find work. Again, it makes me so proud to come from the riding.
I want to thank the member for Richmond Hill for bringing forward this motion, Motion No. 36, and continue not what Senator Bernard started but actually what the Hon. Deepak Obhrai brought forward in this House in 1999, 21 years ago, as a private member's bill, Bill C-282. It was then brought forward within the Senate, a couple of years ago by the good senator. She tried to get it passed, but unfortunately the bill was not passed before Parliament broke. Fortunately, the member for Richmond Hill has brought it forward. I agree with his earlier comments; I am confident this motion will pass with unanimous consent in the House, when we get there.
My riding has some unique contributions that people of Black or African descent have made to this great country. This speaks to the motion as well. In the southernmost part of my riding, I have the town of Priceville. I did not know until I was preparing for this speech that it is named after Colonel Price. Colonel Price happened to be of Black descent, something I did not know. It just speaks again to the rich contributions Black people have made to Canada, throughout our history.
As well, in my own riding going back to 1993 to 2004, a former MP was Ovid Jackson. Ovid Jackson made national news at the time because while I come from a riding that is not as ethnically diverse as some of our ridings in more urban centres, Ovid was elected as a Black man. That speaks not only to the constituents of my great riding and how fair and balanced they are, but to what a nice, intelligent and competent individual Ovid himself was. Unfortunately, in my view, he ran for the wrong party, but we will deal with that on another day.
What is unique too about my riding and specifically Owen Sound, or the village of Sydenham as it was known then, is the Owen Sound Emancipation Festival. It is the longest ongoing festival in North America. It started in 1862, five years before Canada was officially a country, when Owen Sound or the village of Sydenham was recognizing the importance of the British Commonwealth's Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which took effect August 1, 1834. The festival started back then with a picnic with the early settlers and they have been celebrating it non-stop ever since. That act freed more than 800,000 slaves across the British colonies and that festival kept going.
In 2004, there was a commemorative cairn, and I challenge any members of Parliament if they are ever up in my riding to come and visit it.
It is in Harrison Park, right in the downtown part of Owen Sound, and it is a beautiful cairn that allows people of all backgrounds to go and visit, meditate for a while, think about the importance and the contributions Black people have made to our country, and remember the challenges they faced in our history. It recognizes those early settlers to my area: the Millers, the Johnsons, the Scotts, the Greens and the Courtneys. Their descendants come back. They are not just in the area, they actually come back from all across our great country, and, I dare say, across the world, every year to be part of that annual celebration, which has actually turned into a three-day event.
I have a unique connection to Blaine Courtney, who is a past chair of the Owen Sound Emancipation Festival. He was actually my track and field coach as a young teenager. Blaine and I got along great. He never stopped pushing me all the time to be the best that I could be, and I actually think I owe him, and all my coaches, a lot of gratitude for making me into the person I am today. I think they were instrumental in helping me be successful in my military career, and hopefully it will lead to success here in my political career.
Just a year and a half ago at the 2019 festival, my daughter and I were in attendance, and I was so proud as she was selected by the town crier to be part of the festival. She got to ring the bell, and she actually rang the bell with the granddaughters of Senator Bernard, and it was a unique experience. The one thing that I guess I was a little envious of was that my daughter made the front page of the local paper, the Owen Sound Sun Times, which is the biggest paper in my riding. I had just been elected as the Conservative candidate just a couple months prior, and there was my daughter making the front page of the newspaper and I was not mentioned at all. Maybe she has a future in politics if she wants. This year, of course, was slightly different; 2020 was done virtually, but I dare say it was impressive to see everybody still gathered and be instrumental as part of that festival.
A key part, as well, in our riding is the Grey Roots Museum. That museum is a wealth of knowledge to educate people, which this motion speaks to the importance of. I really think that the root advantage of bringing this motion forward is to make sure we never forget, and at the same time that we educate.
I have travelled the world in my military career. I have been in countries all over the world, some of the worst parts of the world. I have always said that I have yet to meet a single person in any other nation around the world who, at that grassroots level, is any different from the average Canadian. Most people just want to live in peace and have their children grow up healthy, well-fed and with an opportunity to have more.
I have served with people of all descents and backgrounds. The best friend I made at basic training out in Chilliwack, unfortunately I can't remember his last name, was Derek. He and I were sort of like two peas in a pod. He was from Montreal. We did basic training together in Chilliwack and sort of tried to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, he did not make it through basic training, and I have not seen him since. I got to the Royal Military College, and made friends like Scott Morrow and Austin Douglas. I served with Austin in The Royal Canadian Regiment as well. There was Master Corporal Raymond Farmer, who I will never forget. I do not know where Raymond is now, but he was sort of like my close protection bodyguard on my first tour in Afghanistan. All these gentlemen are people of Black descent.
I cannot imagine living in any country in the world other than Canada. We are so fortunate, and I am so glad that we played such an instrumental part in helping slaves escape from the United States back in the 1800s. I am so glad to see this motion being brought forward by the member for Richmond Hill. It is a way to recognize the contributions the people of African descent have made to this great country. It is a way to educate and to recognize what they are still contributing to this day. This is the Canada I want my daughter to grow up and be proud of.