Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to the motion of the hon. member of the Bloc Party. The motion calls for the 113 year old verdict on Louis Riel for being guilty of high treason to be revoked. In addition, the motion like past ones before it calls for a commemorative day each year in honour of the man Louis Riel.
Clearly this is an emotional issue for some people on both sides of the debate. Some say he was a hero who was justified in his cause. Others argue that he was largely self-serving and he went too far in pursuing a cause and a personal vision of himself. Each side quotes facts and data which serve to embellish their case and wrap them in an emotionally appealing package. This can be an emotional issue because as Canadians we want to have our own Canadian heroes. We need them.
Canadians are patriotic. We may not wear it on our sleeves like our American neighbours, but if one scratches even a bit below the surface there is a bright red, passionate Canadian heart beating. Being Canadian means something.
One of my most enjoyable duties as a new member of Parliament of this great House is to attend citizenship court in my riding. After the ceremony I embrace our new citizens and ask them what their citizenship is. I have seen tears of gratitude and hope well up in their eyes when for the first time they say “I am a Canadian”. It is a powerful moment.
Part of being a Canadian is that we demand our heroes to be real, for their stories to have integrity. We intrinsically know they must be out there, these Canadian heroes, and I believe there is a desire to know them better, to know their stories. Somehow I feel their stories have been kept from us. We do not celebrate them as we could and, I suggest, for the strength of our nation as we should. All this in spite of the millions we spend on Canadian culture and heritage.
I understand that some prefer their tax dollars be used to fund cultural products that appeal to the arts community such as a recent Canadian movie that documented a fictional tragedy, made all the more tragic by a subplot of incest and sexual perversion. Some seem to think this type of art is good for Canada. It is not my preference.
Instead, I prefer a greater focus on our heritage and culture. The money of government ministries should go to portraying the history and positive real life stories of men and women who gave so much to this country and the world. With this we would all be inspired and stand a little taller when we say “I am a Canadian”.
If Louis Riel, why not Jean de Brébeuf whose ability with languages allowed him to communicate with ease with the Huron Indians? He assimilated into their culture. Brébeuf composed the first dictionary and grammar of the Huron language. During a small pox scourge Brébeuf stayed behind helping the sick Hurons while an Iroquois war party approached. The few Huron Indians who escaped witnessed his torturous death and the story of his courage and service impacted on the lives of thousands of Huron Indians in years to come.
How about Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve, the founder of Ville Marie on the island of Montreal in 1642? Maisonneuve was a revered leader who governed wisely and kept order in a growing colony for 23 years. Interestingly he ordered brawlers to pay the medical bills of their victims and slanderers to praise each other in public. He sounds like a Reformer to me.
Or, more recently, in the early part of this century, Mr. Georges Vanier. At this time I would like to quote an article by Mr. George Cowley contained in a forthcoming publication Canada Portraits of Faith . He records:
Mr. George Vanier was a man that, when the first world war broke out, felt that his immediate duty was to his country. He took the leading role in recruiting and organizing a first battalion to be raised by and of French Canadians: the Royal 22nd Regiment, the Van Doos. Shortly after, he lost his right leg to a German shell. After convalescing, he refused evacuation. “I simply cannot go back to Canada,” he insisted, “while my (Canadian) comrades are still in the trenches in France”.
(After a very distinguished career, Vanier) retired from diplomatic service in 1954, hoping to continue serving Canada in “some modest capacity”. The capacity offered him in 1959, at age 71, was to become Canada's governor general, the first Quebec native so honoured.
In early 1967, Vanier's heart showed signs of weakening. His last official engagement was to address, from his wheelchair, a delegation of students from the University of Montreal on the favourite theme of his latter years: the importance of Canadian unity. Few figures in Canadian history have been better demonstrated, by words and deeds, the urgency and sacredness of this cause. “The measure of Canadian unity has been the measure of our success—if we imagine we can go our separate ways within our country, if we exaggerate our differences and revel in contentions—we will only promote our own destruction. Canada owes it to the world to remain united, for no lesson is more badly needed than the one our unity can supply: the lesson that diversity need not be the cause for conflict, but, on the contrary, may lead to richer and nobler living. I pray to God that we may go forward hand in hand”.
There are many more Canadian heroes that we all need to know more about. It would serve to strengthen our passion and resolve to stand on guard for our great nation.
I am thankful that people like Michael Clarke of Reel to Real Ministries from Chilliwack, B.C. whose publication I mentioned earlier “Portraits of Faith” provides accurate insights into the lives of many Canadian heroes. This publication will encourage us all to inspire our children.
As for Mr. Louis Riel, he was no doubt a passionate man and worked to see that the west had an independent voice within Confederation but his tactics were outside the law. We can recognize that some good was brought about through his life, as it is with every human life, but as Canadians we have a great deal of history to celebrate without having to rewrite it. The pen that rewrites history will always be driven by today's biases. It is better not to do it.
My fellow Canadians, we have much to be thankful for. In fact, we have an obligation to celebrate the strengths of this great nation.