I wanted to comment that in my film Honour Before Glory about the No. 2 Construction Battalion, we went to Truro, and I interviewed Jerry Jones's daughter, whom you spoke of. I had the honour and pleasure of meeting her, and I was so crushed when I heard that she passed away the day before her father was recognized with this award.
I was telling Mr. Simms why I cited the War Museum of Canada as a possible model for this centre. Why was the War Museum created? The War Museum of Canada was created so that Canadians could understand the contributions and the sacrifices made by Canadians in the First World War and the Second World War, to feature the individual stories of heroism and intense human sacrifice that were made by Canadians, to instill a sense of pride in Canadians, and to educate people about the contributions we made to the world during those two huge encounters. That's why the War Museum was created. On the same philosophical lines, the African Canadian Museum should be created to give a sense of pride to all Canadians, and to give a lasting monument to the contributions that community has made. That in itself will be an education for Canadians.
I have to reiterate that this educational process stems right from the grassroots, from teachers groups, to school boards, to parents associations, to ministries, to the provincial ministries of education. We need to change the teaching of history in our schools, because Black History Month now is just optional. Sure, it's popular and a lot of large inner-city schools celebrate it, but there has to be a change in how we teach history in school. Certainly a museum would be a step in that direction. It would provide a lasting monument of pride and education as well as an opportunity for Canadians to come and learn about Canadian history.