Evidence of meeting #59 for Official Languages in the 41st Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was 2017.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
In 2017, what are we celebrating again? It's the anniversary of what?
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
We're celebrating Canada, as a nation.
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
And our heritage, our history, our people, our culture—
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Excuse me, are you saying that Canada was born in 1867? Is that what you are teaching in your arts centre?
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
No. We're the national memorial to the founding of the nation in terms of the first meeting that was ever held to discuss Canada as a nation, and that happened in 1864. Our building was opened in 1964 to commemorate that.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
We are not discussing Canada as a nation. We are discussing Confederation. Canada was a nation before that. I hope you know that.
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
Absolutely, I know that.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Then why are you calling it the anniversary of Canada? I think we need to respect our history.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
In some parts of the county it will play very badly if we call 1867 the birth of Canada.
Do you know who François-Xavier Garneau was?
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
In 1845, he wrote Histoire du Canada depuis sa découverte jusqu'à nos jours.
Who was the first prime minister of Canada?
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
Sir John A. Macdonald.
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Have you never heard about Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine?
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
Yes. That's why I want to do this show, Evangeline, because it was the mid-1700s—
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
I'm very concerned about the way you teach history in your arts centre, but you're not alone.
You are all making the same mistake and it is a very serious mistake. You cannot demolish a country's history just like that. You are going to have a major problem with a good portion of the population, including francophones, if you are forgetting why we have two official languages in this country and how the Europeans populated this part of the continent.
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
May I respond? I agree with you completely, Monsieur Dion. This is why I want to show the story of Evangeline next year on our stage. The mid-1700s, when the expulsion of Canadians happened in the Maritime provinces, is a very big part of our history—
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
But it's not the pre-history of Canada; it is the history of Canada.
Chief Executive Officer, Confederation Centre of the Arts
It is the history of Canada. I agree completely—
Liberal
Stéphane Dion Liberal Saint-Laurent—Cartierville, QC
Okay. Thank you. I hope you will correct that, because it's a big mistake if you are pretending that Canada started in 1867.