This will be short and sweet.
I am an archeologist. Obviously I am interested in the archeological aspect. My colleagues are right: this is not an archeological study but a historical one, and teaching history is a provincial responsibility. We are reminded regularly in the House of Commons that we cannot deal with one subject or another because it falls under provincial jurisdiction. This subject is a provincial matter.
Moreover, this a very long study and a host of topics have been put forward. The Conservative government is hardly trying to hide that this is their way of punishing the opposition. It is childish! The Conservatives want to make sure they control what happens in committee. This means that we cannot present our own motions because this one could last for months on end.
There is something else in this motion that really displeases me. Indeed, most of the examples given are related to the military. History is not only military history, although this is an important aspect. There is no mention, for example, of the industrial revolution, which is an important part of Canadian history. There is hardly any mention of social development. There are biases that I do not like. If we were to study history, we would have to study much more than this and it would require many months. That is not what we are here for. We are not here to waste Canadians' money by undertaking studies to simply penalize the opposition.