Mr. Speaker, thank you. I know other members may have wished that the technology was correct in this case but I did have a couple of more points that might throw some light on our consideration of this motion.
I refer back to the point that the purpose of question 19 was simply and solely for the administration of the employment equity legislation. I had some very interesting feedback in my office following the circulation of the census. I am sure almost every member in the House did and that other colleagues of mine, even from other parties, would be able to give examples of this.
From my own files, a woman named Krishna called and said: "Census question number 19: East Indian would cover Punjabis. The category of Punjabi should not be there. I refuse to answer and will not send my application back to Stats Canada. This creates division between India and Punjabi and should be removed".
Esther phoned in and said: "I am livid and upset and hurt about the census forms. When I received my Canadian citizenship, the adjudicator told me that I would never again be asked what my ethnicity was or what my background was. Stats Canada already has my records. Why does it need to ask me again? I thought I was a Canadian".
Since time is short I have provided just those two short examples of some of the difficulties, the divisions and the upset that Canadians feel when they are subjected to this kind of discrimination and differentiation.
Over the past two decades, Liberal and Conservative governments have tried to achieve equality, a very laudatory goal. But they have tried to achieve equality among Canadians by passing legislation that treats different groups of Canadians differently under the law based on race and other characteristics. Reform believes this special status approach is divisive and leads to intolerance and inequality. We believe in true equality which allows diversity and promotes tolerance.
A Reform government would ensure that Canadians are protected against discrimination on the basis of equality of individuals before the law rather than on the basis of special rights based on group characteristics. A Reform government would protect all individuals from rights infringements and discriminatory actions by the state, particularly in the area of employment which the Employment Equity Act is supposed to address.
We would discontinue federal affirmative action and employment equity programs because unlike the other parties, we believe that even discrimination practised for "affirmative reasons" is harmful because it is fundamentally unjust.
Question 19 on the census form gets us more to the point where we discriminate, differentiate Canadians, the people in this country on the basis of ethnicity. We think it is wrong. We think it is harmful to Canadian society. We think it is divisive and we think it should be stopped and reversed and that Canadians should be affirmed as Canadians, treated equally, given equal opportunity before the law and move on to build their lives as individual Canadians, not as members of a special, different group based on individual characteristics.
Once again, I urge my colleagues to support the motion which again affirms the fact that we should be proud to be Canadian, encouraged to be proud Canadians and should be proud to be identified as Canadians in very way.