Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you to the witnesses.
Let me address this issue from another angle and that has to do with the short title of this bill. Semantics is important in that it encapsulates an issue into some very simple words. At the same time, I'm quite cognizant of the fact that words mean separate things to different people. Let me address this from the specific side of what our opposition thinks.
The opposition believes that the short title of the bill is racist. That is quite a loaded term in our culture and society.
I would like to quote the Minister of Multiculturalism in the House of Commons, where he articulated very well our position. He appropriately remarked:
Mr. Speaker, in the title “culture” does not refer to any one individual culture. In fact, many of the issues we are concerned about are clearly present in a number of different cultures. A number of people who have been accused of these horrible and barbaric practices tell the court that how they treat women or how they treat their daughters is part of their culture, so it is important to point out exactly what this is. This question is coming from a party whose leader, the Liberal leader, did not want to call these practices barbaric. We will say exactly what this is. They are barbaric cultural practices and they have no place in Canada.
Starting from Mr. Gora, could you please comment on the semantics of that comment from the Minister of Multiculturalism?