Madam Speaker, I am not sure that it would. I think not. When the present bill finally is tested by the charter I am pretty confident that it will not meet a charter challenge.
Let me make a statement about the member's comments because I think there are some important components to them, about rights and about abuses that have happened in the past. I was not around, nor was I in this country, when the Chinese exclusion act was enacted or when any of the other atrocities happened. This is not to try to make people in Canada feel guilty, but to have them understand and recognize it. I was not around for what happened to the Acadians, but I recognize from reading history that it was very wrong.
It is through having something like a day of atonement and recognizing the importance of the charter that people understand where the charter comes from and why we have put it in place. It is a very basic contract, with every Canadian, on individual human rights. I think that if we were to have that kind of situation, if we were to have their struggles and mistreatment recognized, a lot of groups like Canadians of Ukrainian descent would feel a lot better about that part of their history. It can be very haunting, as it is haunting for the Acadians to learn what happened to them, to learn about their struggles and not have them recognized. I think it is very important for us to recognize these things that have happened, such as the unjust internments that occurred. I think then we can truly move forward as Canadians equal before the law.