Mr. Speaker, I have had the privilege of rising in the House on many occasions, but perhaps none with the deepest privilege with which I rise here today. I shall begin by noting that 10 minutes is not nearly enough to capture the collective lives and times of descendants of the African slave trade.
I want to restate the gratitude that I have for the hon. member for Richmond Hill, who with passion, justice and rightful recognition has reintroduced this critically important motion. He is lifting up the work of the always honourable senator Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard, who would indeed rank among the most learned and exalted members of Canadians of African descent.
Like many Black and racialized Canadians, I am often asked the question, “Where are you from?” When I share with them that I am Canadian, the next question I am asked is, “But what about your parents?” I tell them I am Canadian, and they ask about my grandparents. I share with them that I am Canadian. My people go back here six generations. In the previous speaker's comments, he inadvertently gave me a shout-out when recognizing the founding families in the settlement that have become Owen Sound. Indeed, I am my ancestors' wildest dreams.
My earliest memories of family would come from our annual trip to Owen Sound to Harrison Park, which is shared by the hon. member from that riding. This would be an extended family picnic and a place where I would be rooted in the celebration of emancipation day. Yes, this commemorates the history that goes back to 1862, before the Confederation of this country.
I am here in the spirit of the Black Moses, Harriet Tubman, who in escaping the wretched and brutal conditions of slavery in the south, risked her life to follow the North Star, to follow the footpaths of the Underground Railroad searching for the promised land. She was an exceptional woman, with a military mind, and a leader of the likes any people would be proud to claim. Indeed, my people followed that North Star from what is likely Maryland today and travelled for days along those backwood paths.
We have heard here today, and I want to go on the record to correct the record, the framing of slaves. It is true that as a young person I grew up in our education system, and I would have shared that I am the son of runaway slaves. Of course, that is false. The context is very problematic because they were not slaves, they were people who were enslaved.
These were a people who survived the transatlantic slave trade and who found themselves in one of the most wretched conditions of humanity, the deepest evil of the United States of America at that time in those settlements, yet they survived. They were the ones who risked everything in following those footpaths to get to freedom, and they are the ones who will teach us about emancipation today.
Our history books will teach us that we were given freedom. I will share, as taught by the Black Moses Harriet Tubman, her grave warnings. She said, “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's [someone] shouting after you, keep going. Do not ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”
The history books hide a painful truth in our collective class. They are things that I had to find for myself. The member is quite right that we have to change our education system. There was a book by Daniel Hill Sr., from which I learned that I am actually the descendent of freedom seekers. I would be remiss if I did not mention that in the motion the historical truths of Canada laid out very clearly in that British Parliament abolished slavery in the British Empire on August 1, 1834.
It also acknowledges and recognizes that slavery existed in British North America prior to abolition in 1834, which is a clear acknowledgement of the British Crown's active participation and, indeed, profiteering from the human trafficking and enslavement of stolen African diaspora.
Where is the acknowledgement and, indeed, the solemn apology to all descendants of African slavery from the Liberal government?
We have heard before, in section (c) of the motion, about abolitionists and others who struggled, and I will share that it is true in that time that men of faith, people of faith, Quakers and others risked everything to give refuge to people seeking freedom. My people were the first refugees of these lands. It begs the question, “What are you willing to sacrifice in order that others may be free, free from discrimination, free from police brutality, free from the systemic barriers?”
The government is facing a class action lawsuit from the public sector today. We have to contextualize exactly what emancipation means. I think a lot about the refugees seeking safety at Roxham Road.
When the Government of Canada announces the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent to highlight important contributions and to provide a platform for confronting anti-Black racism, this would be a perfect time for the Prime Minister to make clear that recognition and acknowledgement in the form of reparations for the displacement of historical Black settlements, from Africville to Hogan's Alley and every settlement in between.
It is true that we get together in the deep beauty of my people to celebrate our freedom and our liberation and the collective struggles of our ancestors. I will close by calling on the work of the present-day abolitionists of our time, those who rallied around the Black lives matter movement in this country, and whose members, the founding members, our present-day abolitionists, wrote in their seminal work, the book Until We are Free by Black Lives Matter Toronto, and who dedicated their life's work, and for whom I dedicate mine, to a true and everlasting emancipation, “For our Ancestors, whose struggle we continue until we are free. For our Elders, whose fight we continue until we are free”, and I will add, for the future generations that continue the struggle for our collective liberation and our emancipation, for our children and our children's children, until we are free.