Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to hear that the parliamentary secretary is on side with me. I would be even more pleased if I could hear the heritage minister say those exact same words.
The member talked about the Cultural Property Export and Import Act. If there is, and I know there is, a Cultural Property Export and Import Act, why did the government not use it to save this medal? This is not the first time we have gone through this.
An immigrant to Canada, Arthur Lee, produced the winning bid of $400,000 to purchase the medals when we were in jeopardy of losing the Colonel John McCrae medal collection. He immediately donated them to the McCrae Museum in Guelph, Ontario. The McCrae medals did not include a Victoria Cross; however, their value lay with their owner, the author of In Flanders Fields .
If we almost lost the McCrae medals and we have now almost lost the Topham medals, and the member is standing here tonight telling me that we have something in place called the Cultural Property Export and Import Act that would stop this from happening, would the member please explain to me why Canadian children were forced to have penny drives, why legion members were forced to run out and try and solicit funds wherever they could, and why members of the First Canadian Parachute Battalion were forced to go out and try and earn money to save these medals?
