Mr. Chair, I am very honoured and proud to take part in this debate.
I would like to start by citing some historical aspects that have a lot of connection to this debate. The hon. member for Hamilton Centre mentioned that we are remembering Nelson Mandela, a great person who brought freedom to South Africa. As well, my colleague for Dauphin—Swan River—Marquette mentioned the invasion on Czechoslovakia, which I remember very well.
I grew up in Poland under a Communist system. I was too young to remember the invasion of Hungary in 1956, as I was only two years old, but I remember very well the invasion of Czechoslovakia. I grew up only eight kilometres from the border. I remember the moving troops and planes flying for days in the sky to the south. I perhaps did not have a full understanding of what was going on, but this debate has had a great significance for me personally because the 32nd anniversary of the imposition of martial law in Poland happened on December 13, 1981. The Communist government decided to break the solidarity movement that started on August 1980, the first free trade union in a Soviet-controlled Communist country.
It is a kind of oxymoron that countries run by the working people would have a union to allow for human rights for working people, but that was the case. After a year and a half of relatively free movement, General Jaruzelski and the government decided to end this. Troops and riot police were brought in.
I was on strike with my fellow workers facing the tanks and riot police, which at that time in Poland were called ZOMO. Now, in Kiev they are called Berkut. They are trying to restore order.
The reason I speak of all of this is because we are having this debate with support from both sides of the House, and it is great that this is happening in our Canadian Parliament. However, on December 13, 1981, when I and my fellow workers and friends were listening to the radio, it was discouraging that the sitting prime minister of Canada sided with the oppressive regime of Poland.