Madam Speaker, February is Black History Month, a time to highlight the resilience, many achievements and rich history of Black Canadians.
This month of celebration and learning has not always existed in Canada. The fact that Black people were forced into slavery on the land that would become our country is a little-known chapter of our history. The ensuing fight against slavery helped lay the foundations for the Canada we know today.
Black Canadians have made invaluable contributions to our society, and they continue to do so. If not for their innovative and revolutionary ideas, the world would have missed out on discoveries like refrigerated trucks, automatic elevator doors, mailboxes and pacemakers, to name just a few.