Madam Speaker, I want to begin my remarks on this important bill by paying tribute to the work done by the member for Ottawa—Vanier. Of course we can still have differences of opinion with respect to this bill. However, it is important to recognize his courage and commitment to a cause that we may not all agree with. Nonetheless, his willingness to absolutely preserve and put forward a principle that is important to him and reflects a long-term project of his is important.
I have to say that I have thought quite a bit about this bill. I know that during this debate some have taken the view that these things can never change. That is not my view. I am open to having a conversation about the wording and I believe that there is no harm in having that conversation.
In that context I will say that if we were to change the words, I would personally prefer the original version of “thou dost in us command” over “all of us command”, which I regard as somewhat awkward phrasing. This perhaps illustrates the point that ultimately this is not quite a binary choice. Members of the Canadian public might ultimately wish to make some kind of a change but have a range of different perspectives on what the best kind of change would be.
However, I have concerns about the process. I will be voting against the bill, principally because, and this is perhaps the only case wherein I would tell the government it needs to do much more consultation on this. I do not think two hours of debate on a private member's bill is the appropriate process of pushing through a change that is this consequential to our national anthem. It seems perhaps strange that I would say that, given on so many files we make the opposite criticism of the government, that it seems to be dragging out and punting down the road decisions that could be taken much more quickly. Then on other files, and particularly in this case, there is a will it seems to expedite this.
In fact, there was some criticism in the media about Conservative members who wanted to complete the first hour and continue to a second hour. There were members of the government who felt that we should just let the debate shut down and have the vote right then. I think that is fundamentally irresponsible. I understand the desire to move this along because of the health situation of the member for Ottawa—Vanier, however, I think we would give him a better tribute if we give this the thorough discussion, and engage in the necessary conversations and consultations with Canadians as part of that important process. Therefore, I would make a modest proposal. If the government wants to have this discussion, if it wants to have Canadians engaged in this discussion, why not have this as the second question on the electoral reform referendum that we think certainly needs to happen and we hope will be happening?
If members of the government are eager to have this conversation, I just do not think we should be rushing this in through the vehicle of a private member's bill. I also do not think that prescribing specific new wording is the way to go instead of having a conversation that engages Canadians and then ultimately puts the question to Canadians. I believe that a process that engages Canadians in the discussion would be more effective because it seems to me there are likely many Canadians who do not even know that we are having a conversation this consequential about changing our national anthem. I know that some members have talked, and my friend from Calgary Shepard in particular, about the significant engagements they have had with their constituents on this issue. However, I suspect all the same that there are many Canadians who are not following the debates in this place in detail. They would be surprised to find that in a few short months all of a sudden they are told that the anthem that they have been singing from childhood has been changed. I think that would be a surprise and a very unfortunate way of rushing this important conversation.
The language contained in this type of an anthem obviously is important. It has symbolic value for Canadians on both sides. It has symbolic value to those who may not feel included by the words, but on the other hand, they may not be interpreting the original connotation of those words in the correct way, but still may not feel included by them.
On the other hand, there are those who have identified with that anthem, have fought for Canada under that anthem, and would feel the opposite, would feel that moving away from wording that they have historically identified with and appreciated would be really troubling for their sense of patriotism, troubling in their desire to identify with long-standing Canadian symbols.
We can do this. If members in the government are interested in having this discussion, it could be done in a responsible way. However, in the absence of that process and in the absence of the proper engagement with Canadians, I am forced to oppose the bill.