moved:
That, in the opinion of this House, the Members of the House of Commons should recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the Canadian flag, in both official languages, each day at the opening of the House of Commons, following the opening prayer.
Madam Speaker, all my colleagues in the House and I are here quite obviously because of the electorates in our respective constituencies. I am also here because I have a great love and admiration for this country. I believe that it offers each and every one of us the opportunity to carry forth on behalf of our constituents, as members of the House of Commons, their many desires, wishes and concerns.
While we have a large geographic country which is extremely diverse from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Arctic, diverse in culture, diverse in language and diverse in economies, quite often as Canadians we tend to be complacent about showing our spirit of patriotism and our respect for this country which has been so good to so many generations. I am delighted to have the opportunity today to bring forward a motion for consideration with regard to the pledge of allegiance.
Using the same criteria for all of the countries of the world, the United Nations over the past three years has selected Canada as the best country in the world in which to live. That should not mean to any of us that we do not have our problems, that we do not have challenges, but challenges are here for each and every one of us to overcome. As the House would know, we will meet those chal-
lenges head on and we will overcome them today and in future years.
Over the past number of years I have had the opportunity to speak to students in many of our schools. In my constituency of Carleton-Charlotte there are some 42 schools, plus 2 community colleges. I challenged myself to try to visit each and every one of those schools during my term of office and to speak about this wonderful country of ours we call Canada.
With all of the differences that I mentioned earlier in culture, in language, in economies we start to look at what are those things that unite us. Whether we are on the far Atlantic coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, or the far Pacific coast of British Columbia, or in the Northwest Territories or the Yukon, or all of those wonderful provinces that are in between that make up this great country of ours, we have certain things that unite us and bring us together. Some of those things are displayed here in this House, as is our Canadian flag.
Whether we are in Newfoundland, British Columbia, Ontario or the territories, our flag is the same. We should be proud of it. We should fly it on every public building. Whether it is on schools, whether it is on government buildings of any type, the Canadian flag should be flown with pride.
In addition to that we have a national anthem. Again, regardless of which province or which coast we might be on, the national anthem or as we know it, O Canada, is the same. Whether it is sung in French or English it has the same meaning. It is our national anthem.
I can recall when I was speaking to the schools, I began to think about all those things that unite us as Canadians from one coast to the other. I can recall as a youngster going to elementary school and reciting a pledge of allegiance.
When first arriving here in Ottawa, I inquired if the pledge of allegiance was still used and available. I was assured that it was. I was told that over the years the words have changed slightly but we still had a pledge of allegiance.
I asked for copies in both English and French. They were provided to me. On my card stock from my office I presented copies of the pledge of allegiance to the schools, the service clubs, the organizations and the municipalities throughout the constituency. I began speaking about it as I visited the various schools in the region.
I began to get requests from jurisdictions outside of mine, from other constituencies in my home province of New Brunswick. One of the reasons I did is because the school districts overlap the federal jurisdictions. Of course, when I got requests from one school district and someone else found out about it, they began to expand. I got requests for copies of the pledge of allegiance from the great province of Ontario, la belle province de Québec, from every province in this country.
It is not my pledge. It belongs to every member of this House, indeed to every Canadian. I want to make it available to every member of this House. I want to make it available to every Canadian. That is why I have brought the motion forward today.
When I speak to assembled students in schools-sometimes they are very largely populated school and sometimes smaller, more rural schools-I always have a little questionnaire about this wonderful country of ours, Canada. We talk about all the provinces and the territories that make up this country. We talk about what the economies are and how they differ from fisheries to forestry to agriculture to mining to all of our wonderful resources that we are so fortunate to have in this country.
We talk about provincial capitals and governments. I always throw a little cue in to see how well the students are doing, how much history they really know about Canada. I talk to them about how we are so influenced by our big neighbours to the south, the United States of America. We see their TV channels expanding into Canada. We see magazines. We are so influenced by our neighbours to the south that sometimes we know more of their history and geography than we do of our own.
I always ask a little question. I always say to the students: "By the way, who was the first president of United States?" Of course they all raise their hands because everyone knows. They all blurt it out: "George Washington". I talk on a bit about the geography and history of our wonderful country and then say: "By the way, who was the first Prime Minister of Canada?" The room goes silent more often than not.
I have a little analogy that I use for them. Members are welcome to use it. I tell them: "When you go on vacation with your family during the summer and it comes lunch time and you see these great golden arches, what do you think of?" They all shout: "McDonald's". I say: "Absolutely right, you got the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A. Macdonald". It is an analogy that I hope will help them to remember all the rest of their lives who the first Prime Minister of Canada was.
It is important for us to realize our past as well as knowing our present, as we look with great anticipation to the future for our children and our grandchildren and as we continue to build this country for a better tomorrow for all Canadians, regardless of where they might live.
As I mentioned, we display our national flag in this House. Every Wednesday, following the opening prayer, O Canada is sung by the members of the House.
This motion I have put forward has been reviewed by the committee responsible. Although it is not a votable motion today, I will be requesting the Standing Committee on Procedure and House Affairs to give every consideration to having the pledge of allegiance recited in the House.
I am a firm believer that it is up to us to show the leadership for tomorrow's youngsters and students. They are, after all, going to be the future leaders of this country. Our sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters will be the future builders of this nation. We should give them the benefit of all of this information at the earliest possible date.
Leadership should begin with the highest court in the land, the House of Commons. Therefore, I will certainly be pressing for the appropriate committee to consider allowing members of the House, at the opening of each day recite the pledge of allegiance in both our official languages.
As I mentioned, this is our pledge. It is not that of the United States, France, Great Britain or any other country. It is made in Canada, so to speak, and it is ours to hold up, as we hold up the Canadian flag and as we stand in honour of our national anthem.
As Canadians, we sometimes tend to be somewhat complacent about our patriotism, although I know that Canadians of every background love this country and love the opportunities that this country provides.
For three years in a row the United Nations not only commended but selected Canada as the best country in the world in which to live. That does not say that we are perfect, that we do not have problems and challenges. Of course we do and we always will have.
However, we have people in this House and elsewhere throughout our provinces who are prepared to take on those challenges, whether they are in a community with mayors and municipal councillors, whether it be in the provinces with premiers and legislative assemblies or in this place, we have a responsibility to set examples of patriotism and examples such as we see displayed here on either side of the Speaker's chair in our Canadian flag. Anything that I can do as an individual member, it is my responsibility to do that.
As most members are aware, we had some great news today from the Minister of Finance when he made a presentation before the Standing Committee on Finance. The great news is that those challenges that were before us when we arrived in this place in the late fall of 1993 are being overcome. Those challenges were met head on, that tremendous deficit of $42 billion, a debt of over $500 billion. Everyone said if this were a business, my goodness we would look at putting the locks on the doors. The government did not run away. It accepted the challenge. The Minister of Finance accepted the challenge and said we will overcome.
The great news today is that the goal of $32.7 billion deficit for the fiscal year 1995-96, which ended this past March, came in at $28.7 billion, some $4 billion less than had been projected. That is fantastic news.
The finance minister went a step further and said we are going to give a new goal on our two year cycle. Today was the day to look at 1998-99. Having met and exceeded our past goals, the Minister of Finance said that during the fiscal year 1998-99 we are going to have further reductions below the $10 billion mark. For the first time in 20 or 30 years it will be that low, and reaching 1 per cent of gross domestic product.
I can see the day in the not too distant future, and with the turn of the century coming very shortly upon us, when we could have a balanced budget in this country. Is that not wonderful news? That is what Canadians said they wanted to see of their members of Parliament and of their government. They wanted to see a government that could balance the budget but without the cut and slash that we have heard so many times. Yes, it has been difficult. Quite frankly most politicians do not like to go into our communities and tell people that we have had to cut back.
However, it has been accomplished by the Minister of Finance and the team effort of the government. We ought to be very proud as Canadians today that that day is upon us.
As my time winds down I would like to read the pledge of allegiance to everyone in this House. I read it for the first time on September 30, 1994. Today I will read it again, the pledge of allegiance to the Canadian flag:
To my flag and to the country it represents I pledge respect and loyalty. Wave with pride from sea to sea and within your fold keep us ever united. Be for all a symbol of love, freedom and justice. God keep our flag. God protect our Canada.