About 10 years ago, Jack Granatstein had his great book, Who Killed Canadian History? I told Jack I didn't agree with the title of his book, though I agreed with the thesis of it. The title of the book was wrong: Canadian history is not dead; it's alive and well. It's not who killed Canadian history, or who is challenging Canadian history. It's what, and what is challenging Canadian history is system-wide; it's all levels of government walking away from the importance of teaching and talking about Canada's history.
It's a sad but true fact that only four of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories require students to take a history class in order to graduate from high school—New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba. Other provinces teach social studies, but it's not specifically history in the way it has been historically, which is a frustrating thing. I know you're a former teacher, and it's something that frustrates you as well.
There's only so much the federal government can do. One thing we can do is build this institution that I've just described. The other thing we can do is work together on areas where we have agreement and can support funding for the celebration of events of large consequence. It was a national celebration, not a Quebec City celebration, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Quebec City. It's a national celebration next year to talk about the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War. It was a national moment of recognition during Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee last year, and there are others to come in a few years.
We ought to seize those opportunities and talk about them. It's important for the government and all members of Parliament to understand that these things, in talking about the facts of Canada's history in an energetic way, have to be thoughtful, non-partisan, and responsible if they're going to be meaningful to Canadians. I think we'll come a long way towards filling the gaps that Jack Granatstein identified in his book.