Mr. Speaker, I am disappointed by that timing but I will be back tomorrow, hopefully, to finish my speech because it is really important for me to get on the record about this bill.
I have been thinking about the omnibus crime bill a lot. It comes to mind whenever I have a moment to think, like on the plane from Ottawa to Halifax, or on the walk to the office. In fact, it came to mind last week in church, because last Sunday, November 20, at the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church. Together with community members and descendants, Reverend Rhonda Britton and Dalhousie president Tom Traves, we celebrated not only the life but the legacy of James Robinson Johnston, the legacy that he left for Nova Scotia and for all of Canada. It was at this commemorative service that I started to think differently about Bill C-10. I will explain that.
James Robinson Johnston enrolled in Dalhousie University at the age of 16. He received his Bachelor of Letters degree in 1896 and his Bachelor of Law in 1898. He was the first member of Nova Scotia's black community to graduate from university and then, also, from law. He blazed a path for many to follow. His work in the African Nova Scotian community made a profound impact on the progress of African Nova Scotian communities today.
In 1991, a James Robinson Johnston chair in Black Canadian Studies was established at Dalhousie University to commemorate and deepen the link between the African Nova Scotia community and the academic study that takes place at universities.
Last Sunday, at the Cornwallis Street Baptist Church in my community, we not only remembered James Robinson Johnston, but we also had the opportunity to welcome the new JRJ chair in Black Canadian Studies, Dr. Afua Cooper. In her address, Dr. Cooper noted that James Robinson Johnston, along with many members of our African Nova Scotian communities, was a descendant of the 2,000 black refugees who fled the United States after the War of 1812 and settled in Nova Scotia.
The War of 1812 caught my attention and it made me stop to think about the government's recent decision to commemorate the War of 1812, and spending millions of dollars to do so. It also made stop to think about how our government is spending millions of dollars to commemorate a moment in history when free slaves came to Canada and how we are, at the same time, debating a bill in the House that would see thousands more Canadians in our jails, added to a prison population that is already disproportionately African Canadian.
I was sitting there thinking about this and trying to figure out if it was ironic or if it was just plain shameful, and a young woman named El Jones stood and took the stage. She is an amazing spoken word artist. I have seen perform many pieces about the realities of our community. Her performances are always thoughtful, provocative and truthful. In her piece about James Robinson Johnston, she said one line that crystallized what I was thinking about. In describing some of the needs of the black communities in Canada, she said, ”Because we need black lawyers and judges to advocate for us Reforming the courts where we are disproportionately jailed”.
That is it. We have failed to apply a racial lens to these bills. My NDP colleague from Edmonton—Strathcona eloquently spelled out the potential impacts of this bill on first nations, Inuit and Métis people earlier this afternoon. She was exactly right. Who is our system failing? All we need to do is look in our prisons and we will see who our system fails.
I look forward to the next opportunity in this House to finish my speech.