Mr. Speaker, on the matter of apologizing, we have been doing a lot of apologizing for mistakes in the past. The hon. member mentioned several examples. We might also add to that list the St. Louis monument that just opened in Halifax at Pier 21, the immigration pier, recognizing the travesty of another era.
It is one thing to judge with today's standards governments of another era. As the discussion has come forward today, this goes all the way back to 1963-69, when it was started. I think 1974 is when the ribbon cutting took place. The prime minister of the day was Mr. Trudeau from Quebec. The environment minister of the day who brought this policy in was the Liberal environment minister, Jean Chrétien. The provincial government was engaged at that time, as was the practice, to assist in the expropriation. That is the history of the day. Thank goodness those policies were changed and it does not go on in that manner any more.
It is important to recognize that the member for Lévis—Bellechasse has been there on behalf of our government to open up possibilities for the families to be recognized. A centre has been opened recently by our government which recognizes the contribution of those families. Our government has taken action on this file, in spite of inaction from previous governments.