Mr. Chair, I would like to congratulate the hon. Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity and the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Status of Women for delivering redress for the historic injustice of the Chinese head tax. In just one year Canada's new government accomplished what the party opposite could not even get done in 13 years.
I would also like to commend the Secretary of State for placing emphasis on the 60th anniversary of the repeal of the exclusion act and the 50th anniversary of the election of Douglas Jung, the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be elected to Parliament.
As we celebrate Asian Heritage Month, would the Secretary of State report to the committee of the whole where the Government of Canada stands with ex gratia payments to victims of the head tax and their conjugal spouses?