First, when I hear you say that it would be good to have an African-Canadian museum for 2017, one thing concerns me. I wonder if we should not blend black history into existing museums. The same reasoning applies to Black History Month. There should be no need for it to exist, we should have blended black history in everywhere, just like we should perhaps try to blend black history into our existing museums for 2017. But I am not knowledgeable enough about the subject to have a well-informed opinion on it.
But I have one question for you. When the plan is for a title “We are one”, aren't you really interested in a program with the title “To be one”? The 150th anniversary could be very embarrassing if we still have the problem of African-Canadians being excluded from our history. If we want to be really ready for the celebrations without feeling bitter about them, I feel that doling out buckets with the maple leaf emblem on them so that the people of Attawapiskat can have drinking water is not the way to go about it.
We were talking about crime-related issues just now. I also don't think that passing Bill C-10 is going to help kids proudly drape themselves in a Canadian identity.
Don't you think that we should establish a list of priorities, attainable goals, so that everyone can feel comfortable about the 150th anniversary?