Mr. Speaker, I rise to speak against both of the proposed amendments.
First, Motion No. 9 concerns the guidelines for ceremonies celebrating passing the citizenship test. We have to remember that is what these ceremonies are for, a celebration. The testing has been completed. Participants at those ceremonies are there to be celebrated and not to be politicized. They have passed a test. They are there with their families. I have attended many of these ceremonies. They are very joyous occasions particularly for people who have come from countries where there has been heavy persecution and they have had a very difficult time getting here.
The materials for distribution go through the local offices and they are very flexible. No one says that the Government of Quebec cannot, particularly on application for the citizenship test, be aware of this and make sure that the materials are distributed. We do not have any objections to that.
The other thing I would point out is that residents have to live in Quebec for three years before they are able to go through a ceremony. Therefore, there are three full years to make sure that they understand how valuable the French language is and how valuable the culture of Quebec is, and I do not disagree with that.
We cannot force the Quebec government, the Ontario government or the Manitoba government through federal citizenship laws to make sure they have an official at a ceremony that is strictly federal.
I do not think a ceremony of celebration is the place to bring in political debate. I do not think it is the place to try to force other levels of government to attend. We have a hard time in many cases getting MPs to attend some of these ceremonies so we are not in a position to order other governments around and I do not believe the member opposite would want that.
As far as Motion No. 23 is concerned, I am sorry the member for Wentworth—Burlington left because the third part of it is a very interesting proposal. His amendment is much like a smorgasbord; he has too much in there.
I agree with the member opposite that this is not the place or the time to debate the relevance of the monarchy. Many of the people who come to this country come from Commonwealth countries and would not be the least bit surprised to pledge allegiance to the Queen. She is still a very significant part of our Canadian psyche. Regardless, as I said, this is not the appropriate place to get into a debate on that.
Concerning the relevance of God, I also agree with the member from the Tory party who suggested that people have a vastly different image of God. There are many titles for a superior being and 20% or 30% of people who come from other countries actually do not believe in God. The concept that an oath can be sworn to an individual's own God within his or her own heart is very much a part of the ceremony. It is nothing to be excluded. Both of these amendments will not be supported by the government for very good reason.