Albina Guarnieri

[Film Industry, May 26th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Toronto director, Atom Egoyan, who just won the International Critics Prize at the 1994 International Film Festival in Cannes for his film "Exotica".

A young film-maker of only 33, Atom Egoyan quickly distinguished himself with his talent, his wit and his creative audacity, in films like "Family Viewing", "Speaking Parts" and "The Adjuster", widely acclaimed on the international scene.

Since making his first feature film in 1985 his works have attracted increasingly large audiences both in Canada and internationally. Exotica is the first Canadian English language film since 1985 to be in official competition at Cannes. This honour clearly represents an important milestone for the recognition of our feature film industry.

[Hockey, May 9th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday Canada won the world hockey championships in Italy on the strength of a 2 to 1 victory over Finland.

It had been 33 years since Canada last won the gold medal in its national winter sport with the 1961 Trail Smoke Eaters.

Canada's team won the gold medal at the World Hockey Championships by winning 2 to 1 in the final game against Finland.

This completes an outstanding year for Canadian hockey with the Canadian team also winning the silver medal at the Olympics, while Canadian women and junior teams won gold medals at their respective world championships.

Our world championship teams should be congratulated for making Canada the first star in the world of hockey.

[Supply, May 5th, 1994]

Madam Speaker, on several occasions in the past few months, the government of Canada has expressed support for the group of Quebec residents promoting Quebec City's bid to host the 2002 Olympic Games. This is a very important issue which must be considered carefully to ensure the success of the entire operation.

The federal government has already committed $2.8 million toward supporting Quebec's international bid efforts before the International Olympic Committee. The Minister of Canadian Heritage led a Canadian delegation in February to Lillehammer while promoting Quebec's bid for the winter games.

The federal government's financial commitment could add up to several hundred million dollars. You will agree this is a substantial amount. That is why this commitment has to be considered carefully beforehand. Not only has the Minister of National Heritage asked his officials to work diligently on this, but before a final answer can be given to the organizing committee, he will have to consult with his Cabinet colleagues whose departments will be involved.

Hosting the Olympic Games in Quebec City in 2002 requires major financial support from the various levels of government, but this project must also receive unequivocal support from the local people; without this support, holding a sports event of that magnitude would be unthinkable.

IOC will make its final decision in Budapest in June 1995, after making a preselection in January 1995 when it will invite four finalists to pursue their bids.

The member can rest assured that the minister is taking the August 18, 1994 deadline for the preselection applications into account. An answer will be announced as soon as possible.

[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, May 2nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, Canadians are proud of the international recognition the CBC has so deservedly received of late.

I am delighted to pay tribute today to the English CBC TV network, which has just won the prestigious "Rose d'argent" at the Montreux festival in Switzerland.

The CBC has won the Rose d'argent for its fine production of "Kurt Browning-You Must Remember This".

It was also announced at a press conference last week that Radio-Canada had won the most prestigious prize at the Banff Television Festival. This prize, which was awarded for the first time to a Canadian broadcaster, honours the overall achievements and especially the quality of serial dramas on the French television network of our public broadcaster. Congratulations!

[National Sport Act, April 27th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, during the last election campaign there was much rhetoric about how there should be more co-operation in Parliament and how MPs should actually work together to achieve objectives common to all.

We have the opportunity today to prove that co-operation works.

In an effort to include a Canadian sporting tradition that predates Confederation, I have asked the member for Kamloops to support the amendment of his private member's bill to recognize both ice hockey and lacrosse as national sports of Canada.

While many Canadians would certainly view the national sports status of ice hockey as a natural expression of the Canadian reality, the concept has been on ice for decades. Canadians have long recognized the significance of another sport which also originated in Canada and which is played all over the world today.

Our proposed amendment would allow for the inclusion of Canada's long tradition in the sport of lacrosse and would resolve an issue that has been left on the bench since Confederation.

In January 1967 Prime Minister Lester Pearson, a devotee of sports and honorary chair of the Canadian Lacrosse Association, said in this House: "I think we should have a national summer game and a national winter game".

Twenty-seven years later members of this Parliament had the chance to convert a pass from Pearson and remind ourselves of some unique aspects of Canadian culture.

As Americans remember where they were when Neil Armstrong took a great leap for mankind, Canadians remember what they were doing when Paul Henderson sent Canadians to the moon when he scored the winning goal for Canada in 1972.

Canadians can be proud when hockey is played at the Olympic Games in Norway or when the lacrosse championship is held in the United Kingdom.

Not only are Canadians a dominant force in both sports but we have been on top for more than a century. Both these sports are just as symbolic of Canada as the maple leaf or the Bluenose .

Ice hockey as it is played today originated in Canada in 1855, on Christmas Day, when the Royal Canadian Rifles based in Kingston, Ontario decided to remove the snow covering the ice in the harbour. They then attached blades to their boots and started playing with field hockey sticks and a lacrosse ball which they had borrowed.

In the early 1800s the Algonquin Indian tribe of the St. Lawrence Valley in Canada played a sport that is known as lacrosse, the sport that was an important element in the life and culture of First Nations. Today it is just as important in the lives of Canadians of all backgrounds.

[Translation]

Throughout Canadian history, we have had every reason to be proud of our athletes who participate in all kinds of sports.

Our nation's athletes have inspired great pride in Canadians by their world class performance in so many different sports: curling, synchronized swimming, canoeing, rugby, diving, track and field, skiing, skating and biathlon, to name a few. Today we salute Canadian achievement in all sports.

Recognizing that sports are an important element of our culture, I think it is essential that we take responsibility for the future of sports in Canada.

As one of the partners involved in the development of sport, the Government of Canada has a very legitimate and essential role to play in that future. We must focus on building a stronger recognition of sport as an important contributor to the Canadian cultural identity.

Douglas Fisher once said: "Most of our shared experiences and values from Bonavista to Vancouver Island are through politics and sport. We would be a much duller lot without our sporting heritage and sporting present". In short, we must make sure that our athletes are always playing at full strength.

This is one occasion when Parliament should not take one game at a time. Mr. Speaker, I think you will find that there is unanimous consent for this motion. I move:

That Bill C-212 be modified in clause 2 by deleting all the words following "national" and replacing them with the following:

winter sport of Canada and the game commonly known as lacrosse is hereby recognized and declared to be the national summer sport of Canada;

That the title and short title also be amended to include the word "lacrosse"; and

That, at the conclusion of the time provided for Private Members' Business later this day, all questions necessary to dispose of Bill C-212 at all stages be deemed to have been proposed, put and carried, and the bill passed.

[Bilingualism, April 25th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, the fact is that nearly a million francophones in Canada live outside Quebec and their number has increased by 50,000 since 1971. While the proportion of francophones outside Quebec has diminished during the same period, this is mainly due to the growing proportion of Canadians of diverse origins who came to our country during that period.

Nevertheless, the government recognizes the particular challenges facing francophones outside Quebec.

The hon. member opposite uses statistics on the situation of francophone communities outside Quebec to make this House believe that these people will soon disappear and that their disappearance would end our policy on official languages throughout Canada.

French speaking Canadians living outside Quebec represent about 20 per cent of the total francophone population of Canada. Through government action there has been notable progress in recent years, particularly in terms of greater access in all provinces to French language schooling.

For example, there are now over 185,000 young Canadians in 700 French language elementary and secondary schools outside Quebec and in 45 colleges and universities which give instruction fully or partially in French.

The hon. member should keep in mind that a community's vitality is measured by its entrepreneurship spirit and its sense of identity and not only by statistics.

[2002 Olympic Games, April 22nd, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, we are naturally enthusiastic about a united Canada hosting the Olympics in Quebec in the year 2002.

We have already committed $2.8 million to the bid and are currently exploring funding possibilities in conjunction with the organizers.

[Translation]

[Anti-Violence Campaign, April 20th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Canadian Heritage launched "Speak out Against Violence", a campaign of public service announcements by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters.

The Government of Canada is a very committed partner in this initiative which is another fine example of what can be achieved on an important social issue through co-operation between the public and private sectors.

To accommodate our federal contribution, Canada's private broadcasters are committing $10 million in free air time to broadcast these announcements.

The government is aware that the media heavily influence our attitudes, and we think this campaign is an excellent way to make all Canadians think about the questions raised by violence in our society.

I invite all Canadians to join us in this bold initiative to help build the Canada of the future, a Canada where men, women and children can be safe in their homes and can walk the streets without fear of harm.

[Supply, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, personally I am disappointed by the hon. member's speech, and I am sure Canadians must be surprised at the position and views of the Bloc Quebecois on official languages.

I have a question. The other day, the hon. member, who is the heritage critic, asked and I quote:

"When will they," meaning the provinces, "start treating French Canadians as well as the English are treated in Quebec".

Her leader, commenting on the same subject, said and I quote:

"The Quebec government did not do enough, even the Péquistes did not do enough. The federal government certainly did more than Quebec. I am ready to admit that".

Mr. Speaker, my question is, why do Bloc members not speak the same language?

[Supply, April 18th, 1994]

Mr. Speaker, large numbers of parents have been enrolling their children in French immersion programs. Enrolment increased at a phenomenal rate over the past decade. Significant increases have also been seen in other French second language program schools outside Quebec and English second language programs in Quebec.

The most recent census shows that as a consequence of these programs the level of bilingualism in the 15 to 25-year group has risen from 16 per cent to 23 per cent in only 10 years.

The value of our official languages is also reflected in the desire of our English and French speaking minority communities to have access to quality public education in their language as a key to retaining their vitality. The Government of Canada has assisted and continues to assist in the development of the minority official language education system across Canada.

Canadian identity is a reflection of who we are. It must therefore accommodate native people, linguistic duality as well as the multicultural nature of our society and our regional diversity. It is important for Canada to reflect all its citizens. The notion of "belonging" applies not only to those who had the good fortune to be born in this land, but also to those for whom Canada is a country of adoption.

Our concept of citizenship must also include the values we share and those we would like to be associated with. Equality and respect for diversity form an integral part of our shared vision of Canada and the vital elements of our identity.

The public debate has often been so focused on what divides us that it often overlooks the things we have in common, including our grassroots civic commitments to building our communities. This active concept of citizenship encompasses not only a legal status but rather our active commitment to the fundamental values we share which give us pride in our citizenship.

How do we go about edifying a common vision of Canadian identity? In my mind, this cannot be done in isolation. Existing tensions can only be overcome if all Canadians have an adequate knowledge and understanding of the fundamental realities of their country and aspirations of the communities that make it up.

It is not by accident that language and culture are recurrent themes in Canadian society. No parliamentarian or government can afford to overlook these issues. They must be addressed openly, transparently. There are certainly adjustments to be made to the application of the official languages policy and there is still room for improvement, as the Commissioner of Official Languages pointed out last week.

Public debate should focus on these improvements. It should deal with hard facts, and not myths, misconceptions and exaggerations. The hon. member's motion is based on such misconceptions and exaggerations.

I am pleased to have had this opportunity to take part in this debate and to show the importance of our official languages policy for Canadian identity. And I have no doubt that, put before the facts, this House will reject the proposal before us today.