Mr. Speaker, the NDP welcomes the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the repeal of the Chinese exclusion act, the discriminatory law that along with the Chinese head tax that proceeded it, imposed great hardship on Chinese Canadians.
It is a reminder that Canadian governments have not always governed according to the highest standards of equality in democracy. One is reminded of the way Japanese and Italian Canadians were treated during the second world war, the way Ukrainian Canadians were treated during the first world war, the way the Jews fleeing Nazi Germany were not welcome in Canada or the way that so-called Orientals were denied the vote for years.
It is important to remember and to say never again, but may I add that many of my NDP political predecessors in the CCF were politically courageous enough to condemn such things when they were actually happening and when it was not popular to do so. Part of remembering is remembering who was there when the going was tough.