Madam Speaker, I have rarely talked much about my own heritage and history in this place. I begin to think that the importance of being able to talk about these issues from our own experience and history is the most important thing we can do for Canadians. There are so many Canadians who will say that the bill seems interesting but does not impact them, not realizing that the tactics used by previous governments to oppress and suppress language and culture and history hold the entire country back.
If we look back into almost all of our histories, when there has been a colonial power and there has been a successful attempt at oppression, language has been one of the key factors. The devious minds that came up with these protocols and practices and laws understood how vital languages were when they tried to oppress a people.
Therefore, if we are going to say anything about reconciliation, if we are going to say anything about improving as a country, understanding and identifying, as did our predecessors in a negative way, the importance of language, is the imperative of this bill now and how important it is to get it right for people in his communities and right across the country who are impacted by this. I would argue that, by extension, that is all Canadians.