Madam Speaker, it is a great honour to address the House on behalf of the people of Okanagan-Similkameen-Merritt and my colleagues in the Reform Party to solemnly commemorate the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps.
We remember the men, the women and the innocent children who perished at the hands of the Nazi tyranny and we honour the many Canadians who fought for freedom and justice at a time of darkness.
We recall the generation of men, women, and children that had to endure the horrors of Nazi tyranny from the 1930s to 1945. For someone born after the war, the reality of this dark period in the history of humanity seems hard to comprehend.
We see the pictures of the Warsaw ghetto, the trainloads of innocent men, women and children being sent to the concentration camps, the deadly gas chambers and the horrific mass graves. As I recall these offences of the past I try to imagine how man could commit these crimes against humanity.
I really began to grasp the magnitude of this tragedy when I saw the numbers of people who died in this horrible conflict. The death toll rivals the size of Canada in 1945. Though we do not have all the names of those who perished, the world must remember Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day.
I would like to reiterate the pledge yesterday by the leader of the Reform Party. He spoke for all of us when he stated: "I solemnly vow that we shall honour the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust by remaining vigilant against those who would divide us by promoting hatred and discrimination".
Those who deny this event must be condemned. Besides solemnly commemorating Yom Hashoah and the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps, I would like to honour the tens of thousands of Canadian men and women who fought for freedom and justice. Too many left Canada to never return. In each battle Canadians fought, and despite the odds and terrible toll they had to pay, they never failed to display great courage and resolution. It is a great tribute to our nation to know that most of those who fought in this terrible war did so voluntarily.
It has been 50 years since the Nazi concentration camps were liberated and the guns fell silent. Many soldiers and civilians who experienced the horrors of this war are doing their utmost to
make sure all Canadians and all humanity remember the cause, the course, and the consequences of this conflict.
Yet in the years to come, as veterans and victims pass on, it will be up to my generation and the generation that follows to keep alive the memory. I feel entrusted with a sacred pledge to be able to go to the Netherlands next week to represent my constituents and the Reform Party in the Canada remembrance ceremonies.
For my part, I vow to keep the memory alive and honour our fallen soldiers and the victims of this terrible event. The people and events we are honouring today must not be forgotten in the dustbin of history. It must be remembered that those who forget the past are condemned to relive it.