Mr. Speaker, I was born on a small tropical island, then a British colony, located on the other side of the world.
Like hundreds of thousands before and after me, I came to Canada to find peace and stability for myself and for my children. Canada is my country, and I feel deeply attached to it. I am most grateful for the spirit of openness, tolerance and generosity that I have always found here.
This is why I am truly honoured to pay tribute to two men who played a most important role in our history, Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier. Indeed, it is no doubt to these two statesmen and prime ministers that we owe the values that have characterized Canada since its founding and that have made Canada a country that respects others and is peaceful, a country that is open to the world and most welcoming, a democratic country where individual rights and freedoms are truly promoted and defended.
When thinking about Macdonald and Laurier and the enormous political and socio-cultural heritage they have left us, differences in parties, language or origin become blurred.
One was a Conservative; the other was a Liberal. One was of Scottish origin, therefore anglophone; the other was French Canadian. Macdonald was a Protestant; Laurier was a Catholic.
They were from different origins and different backgrounds. Yet, they were united by something that was far more important than their differences, that is their vision and their faith in this new country that they were about to create and shape for the future.
The sum of Macdonald's and Laurier's contribution to the building of Canada and the values it represents is so immense that it dwarfs the differences of party, of cultural origin and of religion and makes those seem trifling. It also dwarfs the many missteps along the way for indeed there were missteps, as there must always be when building a country and running governments.
Builders, creators and visionaries all saw in the vastness of this beautiful land not only new horizons to reach but a new type of country where the two founding cultures and languages could not only coexist but flourish, where the broad expanses and spaces could welcome settlers and new citizens from elsewhere to a life, in the words of Laurier himself, of “peace, harmony and prosperity”.
The challenge of joining one coast of this immense land mass to the other by building a railway was in itself a gigantic undertaking and feat, especially given the context and conditions of the day. If that was a gigantic undertaking and feat, how even more remarkable was the founding of a new and bilingual country open to others and dedicated to democracy, to freedom and to diversity.
When we view statistics and comparisons, we see that Canada remains a modest contender in the bigness stakes. We have a comparatively small population. Our economy is dwarfed by several others. Our military power is very limited. If countries were to be judged by population, their GNP size, or the might of their military arsenal, Canada would be a very moderate success.
The country Macdonald and Laurier sought to build was not a powerful one in the quantitative sense but a new type of country, one of ideals and values that would transcend statistics and numbers. What they have left us beyond infrastructures and material achievements and prosperity, important and impressive as those are, is an infinitely more precious legacy. In the words of Sir Wilfrid Laurier himself: “It is to our glory that hatreds have ended on Canadian soil. There is no longer any family here but the human family. It matters not what language the people speak or at which altars they kneel. There is glory in this fraternity of which Canada can never be proud enough. Mighty nations indeed may well come to us to seek a lesson in justice and humanity”.
Yes, their legacy is above all that of our enduring democracy, cherishing its core values of peace and peaceful assembly, of individual freedoms and respect for others and their differences, of openness and generosity to others less fortunate than ourselves.
So it is for the lasting achievement of these values and ideals which have marked the building and evolution of Canada that I feel privileged to honour Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier today. It is with pride and conviction that I join Senator John Lynch-Staunton and my colleague from Don Valley West and so many other colleagues from all sides of the House and Senate in supporting Bill S-14 and wishing it Godspeed. I pray that we find a large majority here to support the bill and make it a statute.