We've heard the Prime Minister speak about standing up to America, and every day we do business with the Americans—they're our best friends—yet we're maintaining our Canadian values and principles in relation to the Americans. I'd like to see the same—Canada standing up to the CCP.
This department and our country have a history of standing up for the freedom of cultural expression. We did it during Jim Crow. Don't forget Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Jackie Robinson in sports, Jack Johnson and Willie O'Ree. We stood up to Jim Crow, did business with the Americans and stood up for the Canadian values of equality and decency.
I just can't understand for the life of me.... During the Cold War in 1972, there were Paul Henderson and Ken Dryden. The east and the west were just about to nuke each other, but we were allowed to play hockey without foreign interference and without any bomb threats, and push the advancements of international brotherhood through cultural expression without any interference.
If the federal government wants to do business with China, that's an issue for a different discussion on another day, but there's no reason we can't stand up for Canadians and their right to express themselves through arts and culture on stages.