Mr. David Lewis (York South): I must say, Mr. Speaker,
that it is a pleasure to be able to comment on an important aspect
of Canadian life that does not have to do with the economy or with
unemployment, and it is equally a pleasure to be able to agree
with the statement that the Prime Minister made this morning.
As members of this House know, I have not hesitated to criticize
government policy, and no doubt a great deal can be said about
tardiness and other aspects of the problem which the Prime
Minister has put before us. But I propose this morning merely to
express our support and our hopes in order to indicate to the
people of Canada that this Parliament is united in its belated
determination to recognize the value of the many cultures in our
country.
[Translation]
Mr. Speaker, it is with a deep appreciation of both aspects of our
Canadian cultural life, official bilingualism and
multiculturalism, that my party warmly supports the principles set
forth this morning by the Prime Minister.
I have often said that one of the most striking wealth of our
country is the fact that it has been founded by two distinctive
groups having two distinctive languages well known throughout the
world. However, another wealth is also important, since we find in
Canada some representatives of almost all the cultures in the
world. To all Canadians, whatever their ethnic origin, I say that
they must be proud of those two enriching aspects of our country.
[English]
Every society has its own cultural treasures which it cherishes
with pride. It is a fact of man's history that his preoccupations
have been too frequently centred on material development and that
his spirit has too often been embittered by conflict and by
prejudice. The result has been throughout the world-and this is
true of Canadians as well- a failure to appreciate the values of
diversity, a tendency to resent rather than to welcome enriching
differences. For Canada this attitude is particularly destructive.
The diversity of cultures across the land is a source of our
greatness as a people . . .
. . . I suggest that the important point that
faces us is that in every society a minority has a problem, the
problem of survival, the problem of keeping alive its history, its
language, its tradition, its songs, its legends, its identity.
When the majority in a society is as cruel as majorities have
often been, not only are minorities crushed but the spirit of that
society, the soul of that society, is destroyed. It is in that
spirit, therefore, that on behalf of my party I welcome the Prime
Minister's statement without any reservations.