Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise today to talk on the private member's motion which is certainly an emotional one. I commend the member for Brampton Centre for bringing it forth.
We are often criticized, as members of parliament and politicians, that we do not do enough. This member has done a great deal to speak on behalf of the members of his community, protect their interests and try to take steps toward healing and reconciliation, especially over the Armenian crisis which happened between 1915 and 1923.
He is obviously deeply committed to this cause. I met with him yesterday to talk about it, because I was not that familiar with the issue. I wanted to get some direction from him. He spoke strongly about healing and reconciliation, and how the recognition that it was genocide would be a step in that direction. I commend him for moving the motion.
I also commend him for his recent involvement with establishing a national stamp in recognition of the Armenians. This is entirely unique. No one can say that the member is not earning his keep and doing his job. I have great respect for him and the approach he takes to all his causes.
Obviously the events between 1915 and 1923 were terrible and horrifying, resulting in the deaths of millions of people. Certainly the Armenian people suffered greatly and more than anyone else.
The Progressive Conservative Party is abhorred by any mass slaughter or killings, or anything that could be termed genocide by any country or any group, be it Rwanda or Europe. It is important that we remember these issues, and this is exactly what the motion has us all doing today. By discussing it, it will maintain public awareness to maybe help the healing process and reconciliation just by the fact that we have had this debate.
We cannot go back and relive the era, or change it or change the results. It is just a fact. However, there are things in this motion that we totally agree with, and anybody could agree with them.
One part of the motion is that we condemn acts of genocide as the ultimate act of religious, racial and cultural intolerance. I am sure that every single member of the House would agree to that, even though the motion to pass it unanimously was just turned down. This section and another section certainly would be to recognize the importance of remembering and learning the mistakes of history.
That is part of what we are doing here today; remembering some of the mistakes of history and talking about them. Not all parties agree exactly on the circumstances between 1915 and 1923. We are here to talk about them. Many of us, myself included, have learned a great deal from the debate. It is motions and activities like this that will help us remember them.
The Government of Canada has the responsibility to voice the Canadian human rights standards around the world and to take these questions seriously.
The member for Winnipeg—Transcona mentioned earlier that the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not treat a question about this very serious issue with a great deal of respect. I too urge the minister to rectify that. It is not his usual practice to treat issues like that. Perhaps it was a moment of political weakness or something like that, when he disregarded the question presented to him. In my experience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs that is not the way he would consider issues of human rights and issues like this. I hope he will correct it.
I want to commend the member for his persistence in his ongoing efforts and initiatives to support his Armenian causes and the Armenian community. He has done a great job. We admire him for very much for that.