Evidence of meeting #117 for Canadian Heritage in the 44th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was point.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
—work in a collaborative way, unfortunately. Otherwise, we would have truly loved to.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Kevin Waugh
Yes, you do. Can we talk about the motion now? We're going to debate the motion, if you don't mind.
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
Mr. Chair, we can be responsible politicians at the House of Commons and move forward together as a team of concerned politicians, regardless of the political parties that we're in, and really look for ways to denounce racism, systemic racism, and to reveal the history of the atrocities that have occurred in this country against indigenous people and that continue to happen to Black people.
I'm part of a group of people who, on this continent, were enslaved and who didn't have the right to vote in many parts of North America, even several decades ago. There's a long history in this country, and I think that as parliamentarians, we need to remove the partisanship and look for ways to come together rather than to separate ourselves. This is so important.
I don't want to say this in a way that uses race or racism to put down the Leader of the Opposition, but the Leader of the Opposition found himself in a very awful situation. He came up to a camp and he saw some signs that brought him there. He got to that camp, and he saw a symbol that was connected to white supremacy, white extremism. He probably made a mistake, because I don't think the Leader of the Opposition—
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
Jacques Gourde Conservative Lévis—Lotbinière, QC
I think we should get back to the motion because we're straying from it. We should also lower our voices and consider the hearing health of the interpreters, who have been working all week.
4:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Vice-Chair Conservative Kevin Waugh
Thank you, Mr. Gourde.
Yes, we're debating the notice of motion by Mrs. Thomas—
5 p.m.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
I was just about to say something, Mr. Chair, before the member spoke to an important issue. I caught the end of it. I believe it was about the interpreters and making sure that we maintain a low volume level. I agree with that, and I thank the member for that.
The Leader of the Opposition had an extraordinary opportunity to rise to the occasion. I'm bringing this up because I think we have an opportunity as a committee to really rise to the occasion and to talk about racism in a way that is productive.
The Leader of the Opposition went to this camp, and he found himself in a very sticky situation. He found himself in a situation where there were white nationalist symbols. It was a very simple response the leader had to do: just denounce that specific group. He has decided not to do that. He has been given—
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
Liberal
Michael Coteau Liberal Don Valley East, ON
There is a motion on the floor talking about anti-Semitism and hate. I think we need to talk about the state of affairs in this country and the state of affairs in politics in this building, in the House of Commons, and the relationship among the parties. I have dedicated my political career to looking for ways to balance the playing field for all people.
I would strongly agree to do a study on anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and anti-Black racism. I would love to do a study that focused on how it's impacting young people. I would like to look for ways to collaborate with the Conservatives to really flesh out some of this ugliness we're seeing in this country, and we should not use these motions in a way that creates divides.
I'm getting to my main point here. The member, a week and a half ago, when she introduced this without notice—and this is why I say there are political games being played—immediately had a prepared statement in front of her that she read from. She started off by saying she was deeply disappointed with the Liberal Party. She read from it like it was an orchestrated engagement. In fact, Mr. Chair—
5 p.m.
Conservative
5 p.m.
Conservative
Rachael Thomas Conservative Lethbridge, AB
Thank you.
While I appreciate the member's desperate insinuations, there was no piece of paper in front of me. He's accusing me of something, so if he has evidence that he'd like to present to the committee, he's more than welcome to, through you, Chair. Otherwise, he's out of order to throw such accusations against me, and I would ask that you call him into line.
5 p.m.
Conservative