Mr. Speaker, I was proud to stand as a member of Parliament during the apology in the House of Commons for denying entry to the 352 passengers on the Komagata Maru into Canada in 1914. This incident is only one of many where prejudices and fears directly resulted in further injustice, discrimination, and harm to others.
I am a proud Sikh, and I am also a proud Canadian. What makes our nation great is that we can have national pride while practising our spiritual and cultural beliefs at the same time.
This apology is more than redressing one incident. It tells the world that we are a nation that is willing to acknowledge our wrongs and even, more than 100 years later, apologize for them, and make sure we continue to address these problems as they persist in the present day.
I thank our government for being committed to ensuring that our Canadian values are upheld—