Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to enter the debate on Bill C-329 to recognize the Canadian horse.
I must admit I am not knowledgeable about horse breeding. One of my constituents brought the bill to my attention. As I read over the history of this horse in Canada, I realized it is part of our identity, part of our cultural history. The member from the Reform Party who went into great dissertation about the irrelevance of the legislation, I believe, misses the very important point that cultural identity is what makes a nation.
Looking at the history of this horse, in 1665 it originally came from the royal stables of King Louis XIV. It was situated in New France. During that time the breed strengthened and became larger until 1759 at the time of the collapse of New France.
It is interesting to study political economics. It is something I have always been fascinated with. There is always so much concern about what happened on the Plains of Abraham in revisiting our history of those days. If we were to study the history of New France prior to the Wolfe-Montcalm battles, we would discover an economy that was rampant with inflation, high debt and high unemployment. It is interesting that these are some of the very problems we have today.
After the collapse of that economy, many French speaking people of New France left the province. They went to Manitoba.
Do we see any similarities between some of these things and some of the debates that are happening in our House today? The Canadian h orse typifies Canada itself, often struggling against tremendous forces of nature and social situations, sometimes
becoming almost extinct, and from the brink of that extinction fighting back, becoming stronger, becoming more proficient.
I often like to view art. The members of the Reform Party do not seem to have much interest in art. If we go to the National Gallery we will see a number of paintings there by Cornelius Krieghoff. Cornelius Krieghoff of course was not a Quebecer, but he painted at the time of New France. In those pictures you will constantly see the Canadian horse. That is very much part of our cultural identity. That is also why it is very important that this nation continue to exist, because we have something very special to protect. A horse clearly cannot run on three legs. The Canadian horse is not just part of Quebec; it is part of all of Canada.
As a previous speaker has mentioned, there is quite a breeding operation not far from the Hill, in North Gower. When I read the background of this horse, that also rang a familiar bell with me, because the last time I went horseback riding was in North Gower.
In conclusion, in looking at the struggles this horse has been through, it is very appropriate that he is called the Canadian horse. More important, it is incumbent upon us in this House to look at those things that make us a nation rather than those things that divide us.
The struggle for Canada in this part of North America has not always been easy and has often been met by trials and tribulations and indeed death. Often our concern in this country was to protect ourselves from the Americans south of the border through wars and now even the consistency of cultural identity in Canada. We continue to resist the imposition of American culture in our society and we continue to strive for the dominance that is Canada's culture. This horse is a symbol of that.
I am very happy to support this bill. I want to remind some of my colleagues in the House that we must always fight for a united Canada.