Canadian Heritage Committee on Nov. 27th, 2017

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

No. It will probably be two minutes.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Good. Thank you.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I didn't realize that we voted so much in House of Commons when I was sitting here waiting for this time to begin, but I thank you for allowing me to participate. We are here at the Canada-U.S. meetings, meeting with a number of congressional representatives and senators.

First, I want to thank the heritage committee for taking this bill under consideration. As Senator Griffin mentioned, we really have a keen desire to try to pass this particular piece of legislation this year, on Canada's 150th anniversary.

Senator Griffin has basically said all that needs to be said.

I would like to also thank the Senate for its work on the bill. I believe they have improved the bill substantially. As Senator Griffin said, there were four amendments already made to the bill in the Senate and the preamble covers off some areas where there was concern.

She mentioned that Charlottetown should be seen as a watershed moment in terms of the path to the Constitution Act of 1867, and it was in Charlottetown where that shared vision of the country was established. Then that was built onto at the Quebec Conference, which is mentioned in the preamble, as well as the London Conference.

As Dr. Ed MacDonald said, it's been a kind of process along the way, but the fact that the shared vision was created in Charlottetown between Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Canada at the time is how we really came into being.

I don't think there is much more I need to say than that, Madam Chair, because I believe Senator Griffin has outlined most of the points, but I'm more than willing to answer any questions you may have.

The other thing I should point out, since it has been a point of discussion when I've been asked about this bill in various quarters, is that there was no indigenous community at the meeting, and in fact no women at the meeting either. In today's world, that would be considerably different. But Senator Griffin did read into the record the words from the Mi'kmaq community of P.E.I., who made it very clear they have been on the land there for some 12,000 years, and we appreciate the words that they said as well, and their support for this bill.

I'll leave it at that and try, along with Senator Griffin, to answer any questions you might have.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you very much.

I'm going to the question piece. We're probably going to do one round because I don't have anyone breaking the door down to ask questions.

I will begin with another Prince Edward Island MP, Sean Casey.

You have seven minutes, Sean.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Thank you very much, Madam Chair.

Thank you, Senator Griffin, and Mr. Easter, for finally getting this bill through the starting gate and closer to the finish line. This is something that was attempted in previous Parliaments as you both alluded to but only you have managed to have any degree of success with it.

I know that this is the work of many, as you indicated, Senator. Could we just start by perhaps talking about what happened in the background to get us to this stage and the people within the community who were the driving force behind this to get us to where we are? Can we get a little bit of the background of them on the record, please?

[Diane Griffin]

Okay.

There's always a risk of leaving somebody out; sorry about that.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

That's what Mr. Easter is for.

[Diane Griffin]

He'll remember.

As was already mentioned, there were two members of Parliament who previously introduced such a bill in the House. Way back, for those of you who will remember, George Proud initially had a bill in this regard, too. That goes back a long time, at least 15 years.

The legislature, last November, had passed a resolution that passed unanimously to have Charlottetown declared as the birthplace of Confederation. We have support from the mayor and council of Charlottetown, and a lot of the local historians, both at the university's history department and other historians and authors in the local community. Some of them are Philip Brown, Sharon Larter, Leonard Cusack, and—here's where I start to forget and leave out people and you may be able to help me, Mr. Casey. There's strong local support for the bill. You say, the Prime Minister already did a declaration so why do we need anything else?

Declarations can get lost. In fact, the Library of Parliament had a problem finding a copy of the declaration but we knew where one was on the wall of the mayor's office in Charlottetown.

There's nothing more stable than having a statute.

You may be able to add to some more names of people who have been really pushing this.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

No. Those were actually the people who I had in mind as well.

Thank you, Senator.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Excuse me, Mr. Casey.

Did Mr. Easter have anything to add to that list, quickly?

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

Those are the names.

The only other one I would mention—I'm not sure whether the senator mentioned it or not—was Dr. Ed MacDonald, who also was a witness before the Senate. He has very strong support and has all the historical background on the point as well.

[Diane Griffin]

Great.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Thank you.

Mr. Casey.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Perhaps I'll start with you, Mr. Easter, on this one.

When we talk about the place of Confederation and the significance of Confederation in the hearts of Prince Edward Islanders and folks from Charlottetown, I would invite you to talk a bit about the prevalence of that theme in the symbols, in the buildings, in the parks, and in the infrastructure of Charlottetown in particular, and P.E.I. in general.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

I think it's an important point to be raised, Mr. Casey, and in fact, some around the committee table will find this maybe strange or interesting. The Confederation Centre of the Arts is right beside the provincial legislature building, and it is the only remaining building of all the buildings that were involved in various conferences moving through the process to get to the Constitution Act.

In my remarks in the House of Commons I said you have to look at this. I had some Americans in there and explained that this really was the birthplace of Confederation. You walk on the worn steps and you see all the symbols and you see the chamber where the Fathers of Confederation met. It's certainly a tourism draw for us in Prince Edward Island, for people to come there and look at Province House and the birthplace of Confederation. You'll find a lot of that in Charlottetown, relating to that theme of the birthplace of Confederation being there.

As well, the Confederation Centre of the Arts came into being in Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's time. What you might find funny is that my first job was in there, washing windows and doing some outside maintenance when I was about 15 or 16 years old.

That building has all the Fathers of Confederation set up in Memorial Hall. It is a place of history and a place of honour that really is there as a memorial to Confederation, although there is a theatre there and a library.

Those are two of the areas that I would say are very important in the city of Charlottetown related to this particular theme.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

There's one minute, Mr. Casey.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

Senator, I'd like you to share with this committee something that actually came out during the testimony before the Senate committee, and that was the reaction of the public when the Province House was under the charge of the province, the expenses were significant, and there was an admission charge for people to come in.

Could you recount just exactly what happened around that and the reaction of the public to the idea of having to pay admission to get into Province House?

[Diane Griffin]

I can summarize it in one word. They were appalled. They see this as a public institution, and as far as the public of Prince Edward Island and summer visitors were concerned, to have to pay to visit this institution was appalling, because it's a very popular place, as Mr. Easter alluded to. The steps are worn. It's quite something to walk on these steps that are worn as you enter the building where thousands and thousands of feet have been placed over the years.

Mr. Easter may remember some more details regarding that event. I think I was away as a graduate student at that time.

[Wayne Easter, Liberal, Malpeque, PE]

No.

[Sean Casey, Liberal, Charlottetown, PE]

He was washing windows at the time.

Senator, what was the result of that outcry?

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Mr. Casey, I'm sorry, your seven minutes are up.

I will go now to the Conservatives and Mr. Van Loan, who is absolutely a history buff and I know is going to ask the most in-depth questions.

[Peter Van Loan, Conservative, York—Simcoe, ON]

Sorry to disappoint you, Madam Chair, but we are such history buffs that we really don't have any questions. We support the bill. I think it is putting in statute a self-evident truth that doesn't really need any debate. We're supportive of it and happy to move on.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Well, thank you very much.

Now we go to Mr. Nantel from the NDP.

[Pierre Nantel, NDP, Longueuil—Saint-Hubert, QC]

Thank you, Madam Chair.

It's rather strange to see my 12th floor neighbour in the Valour Building sitting in Washington.

I'm delighted you're here, Senator. Thank you for agreeing to present your bill to us.

This year, Canada's 150th anniversary has often been touted as an opportunity to, in some way, make amends for the wrongs of the past. Senator, you mentioned the importance of the Mi'kmaq perspective. I'm wondering whether it isn't a missed opportunity not to recognize, in the bill, the territory by its Mi'kmaq name, pronounced abegweit, which I believe you even said.

As you said earlier, it would be great if the bill were passed prior to the end of the 150th anniversary year of Confederation. Indeed, you don't give gifts after Christmas; it's too late then. With this piece of legislation, do we, as parliamentarians, not have a chance to do even more, given what we've experienced this year?

I won't even get into a discussion on how few francophones participated in the conference. I believe there were just two, but that has nothing to do with our duty to achieve reconciliation with first nations.

I am proposing an addition to clause 2 of Bill S-236, which currently reads: “Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, is recognized as and declared to be the birthplace of Confederation.”

I, for one, think it would be a positive step to add the following to the clause:

“This place known as ‘Prince Edward Island’ is recognized as traditional and unceded territory, known as Epekwitk, of the Mi’kmaq First Nation.”

That said, and I realize that this would be an additional step, we could go even further by stating:

“Parliament recognizes that the Charlottetown conference that led to Confederation excluded representatives of Indigenous peoples.”

The first change I'm proposing would recognize the territory, which would be nice. I would point out that, first nations people made it very clear this summer, on Parliament Hill, that we have a very white view of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.

I am formally moving this. I hear the clerks talking to the chair, so I would like to move an amendment to my motion, in order to include first nations.

[The Chair, Liberal, Hedy Fry]

Do you have it in writing, Mr. Nantel?