Mr. Speaker, the word “diversity” brings about a different sense or meaning for a lot of people. This place contains a lot of diversity in terms of our backgrounds, beliefs and systems. However, we are in a country called Canada with many distinct nations and distinct identities, and they are all welcome here. I do not see any reason why we cannot work together despite some of the differences. Conversations like this, civil discourse on an important subject, are important.
Earlier I heard a member from the Bloc Québécois mention colonialism. I know it is a challenge for many of us to consider how we are a nation that was built on colonialism, but the Commonwealth is not the only nation responsible for colonialism. France also participated in acts of colonialism. My father's family came from the Netherlands, which had some of the most brutal colonialists, as well as the Belgians and Portuguese.
Colonialism is a global phenomenon. Here in Canada, because we have a British head of state in the monarchy, we refer to colonialism as a British thing, but many other countries and nations had an impact on colonialism in Canada as well.