Madam Speaker, I was not expecting to speak to this bill, but after hearing the debate I just could not resist.
I have a lot of respect for the member who has brought the bill forward. It is a Senate bill, so she is basically acting as a messenger. I appreciate her bringing the bill forward because it makes us think about the things we really value.
A colleague from my party made a statement. I think we can judge by the fact he made a very humorous speech that he probably did not care one way or another whether the bill passed. He did not come out strongly in favour of it nor did he say that he was against it, but he used some humour and that was rather interesting. The Bloc member on the other hand mixed humour and objection to the bill and stated it rather forcefully. We heard from the member for St. John's West. These individuals responded to the question of whether we should have a poet laureate and I would like to add a few comments.
Poetry is an expression of something that is way deeper inside us rather than just an intellectual idea. I am a mathematician of sorts and I could help with solving some equations. We could solve some other problems but it would be sort of cold and clinical. However if I were to express some ideas in poetry, they would go much deeper. Some would say that poetry is an expression of the soul and I appreciate that.
Members may find this rather amusing about me, if they can possibly imagine it, but in the good old days when I was courting the young lady who has now been my wife for 40 years, I used poetry. I used to sing songs to her, believe it or not, which caused her a great deal of happiness judging by how loud she laughed. Poetry is an expression of the depth of a person's heart. I have no problem with that part.
However I do have a very severe problem with having a person appointed by the government to express what is called the Canadian soul because I do not think that is possible. We keep saying over and over in the House that we are a country of great diversity. We have two official languages. From a practical point of view I am not sure we could find a person in Canada who is fluent in both French and English and in all fairness, in several other languages to reflect the other 25% of the population that is neither French nor English. To express in both, or more, languages the depth of what we are feeling as Canadians is inevitably not going to work.
Therefore I will come out very bluntly and say that I am going to vote against the bill simply because I do not think it is workable.
Furthermore in this debate I somehow felt a sense of irreverence because of the events that have happened in our world and the fears which many Canadians now have. It seems frivolous and irreverent to me to be discussing the appointment of a poet by the government when we are facing such severe and serious problems.
I would much rather see some greater encouragement for those who walk among us every day who have a poetic bent. In my riding we have several local newspapers and from time to time they feature poetry that is written by some of the local students. Something like that is worthwhile and we should encourage more of that.
Furthermore I do not think that by paying a person some money we can turn on the creativity of that person. Developing poetry, writing music, and I know several people who do that, is not a thing which can be turned on or off. It is a moment of inspiration. They grab it, they write it down and they record the music. That becomes the expression of what they really feel.
When I write a poem or make music, it has nothing to do with anyone else. It comes from me. It is that individuality we should support.
I will defer to my Liberal colleague because he also wanted to say a few words. I have said enough.