Madam Speaker, I had not planned to speak to this bill, and I apologize to the mover for not having prepared remarks because I think it is the kind of topic on which one would have liked to have had the time to do a little research and perhaps to have come up with some worthy quotations from both Macdonald and Laurier, particularly with respect to Macdonald and some of the anecdotes somewhere along the line already engaged in by the member who introduced the motion.
I would certainly like to speak in favour of the motion in its particularity, that is to say the idea of having a day to honour Macdonald and Laurier. Generally, I would like to speak in favour of more opportunities for Canadians to reflect upon their history and for Canadians to know their history better than they do, because I would say that one of the weaknesses of Canada as a nation is that we do not know our history as well as we should.
I think it is fair to say that in many of the constitutional debates we have had in the country we might have been able to have had more intelligent debates, more constructive debates if people had been more aware of their history and more aware of the particular traditions out of which people were operating, out of which they were thinking, speaking and acting when they were participating in those debates.
That does not mean to say that it would have eliminated disagreement, because I think any study of Canadian history will show that there have always been different ideas about the country. There have always been different ideas about the role of the central government ever since the initial debate about confederation. There have always been different ideas about how much power should reside with the provinces. There have been a number of different ideas about Canada all competing with each other within the bosom of this great country we call Canada.
To name a particular day after Macdonald and Laurier is appropriate because within those two names is contained at least two of the contending views of the country, although there would be a great overlap between them as well. Nevertheless, one remembers that it was Sir Wilfrid Laurier who was the first prime minister to consider free trade with the United States, and it was Sir John A. Macdonald who was the creator and defender of the national policy, which was not a free trade policy but rather a policy which intended to create more of a national economy.
We see that debate being lived out even today within Canada with respect to free trade, although I must say that the free trade that we have today is far more extensive and far more destructive than anything that Sir Wilfrid Laurier had in mind when he defended the idea of reciprocity. That had to do only with tariffs. It did not have to do with investment, services and energy. It did not really have to do with incarnating or entrenching a whole philosophy.
I do not want to wander into the free trade debate. I want to stick with the idea that we should know our history better and that any designation of days, such as the bill suggests, which would help Canadians to do that should be supported. It might become an occasion in schools in particular, but also in other places for Canadians to reflect on their history.
There are many who lament the fact that Canadian history is not taught as much in our school system as it should be. It seems to me that we do a very poor job of that. Knowing Canadian history should not be an option. It should be something that every Canadian kid should have a good grasp of by the time he or she gets out of high school.
For children to simply take one course in grade 11, another course three or four grades back of that, and spend most of their time learning about the very early days of Canada with regard to explorers and everything else but never really knowing as much about our history in both the 19th century and the 20th century as I think people should know, is a fault of our school system. I know the history is in the textbooks, but I do not think we spend enough time on it. I wanted to use this opportunity to register that particular point.
I hope this is the kind of bill that might pass. I understand it is votable, although I hope that it does not come to a vote today because I think other members may want to speak to it. That is partly why I am on my feet, to ensure that the debate does not collapse within the first hour. It is something we would like to hear more members on.
I commend the mover of the motion in the other place and here for giving us the opportunity to reflect, however inadequately, on Canadian history and on these two great prime ministers. One who had this vision of a country on the northern half of the North American continent that would be different and distinct from the United States of America and another who had a vision somewhat later, when we were receiving more immigrants from all around the world, of a country that was tolerant and diverse and respectful of minority rights.
Both these visions need to be nurtured. As I already indicated the vision of Prime Minister Laurier with respect to a diverse and tolerant society that respects minorities is being nurtured, but I think the vision of Sir John A. Macdonald of a different and distinct country on the northern half of the North American continent is a vision that is in great peril.
An argument could be made that Macdonald would be rolling over in his grave if he could see the extent to which the country has become integrated into the North American economy and the extent to which it has come under the sway and domination, both ideological and political, of the country from which he sought to set Canada apart.
Forgive me if I use this time not to make a partisan point but to talk about something a great many people are very concerned about, and that is the project we call Canada. The hon. member spoke of national projects. The project we call Canada has had various mini projects along the way or various stages of the project. Our concern in the NDP is that we are in a project now that is quite antithetical to all previous projects.
We live in a world where we talk about a North American economic union, adopting the U.S. dollar and continental energy projects. These kinds of things would have driven Sir John A. Macdonald around the bend. They might have driven him to drink. Indeed they might have driven him to have a few more than he might otherwise have had.
I would certainly ask hon. members to consider this when we honour our history and honour the ideas some of our prime ministers had. Let us be vigilant and careful that we are not, by dearth of uncritical attraction to various new ideas or so-called new ideas, because some of what passes for new ideas these days is just old 19th century capitalism being repackaged and shoved down our throats, that when we pay homage to these individuals we are not by accident or design destructive of their visions of Canada.
The hon. member recalled the time of Prime Minister Laurier's funeral and the most recent time of mourning having to do with the death of Pierre Elliott Trudeau. We might remember another time in recent history when Canadians gathered from all walks of life, and certainly throughout western Canada, to pay homage to Prime Minister John Diefenbaker who, for all his faults and certainly his partisan faults, had a vision of Canada as something very distinct from the United States. He was not a member of the party I belong to, but certainly a great many western Canadians and I am certain Canadians from other parts of Canada, shared that vision with him.
It was a sense that Mr. Diefenbaker had, along with Sir John A. Macdonald, which sometimes got him into trouble with the United States of America. I would put that on the record as we;; because it is something New Democrats hold dear, not the memory of John Diefenbaker but the idea of a distinctive country on the northern half of the North American continent, something that is different, more compassionate, more caring and more sharing. Let us defend that to the death.