The
House met at 11 a.m.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
PRESENCE IN SPEAKER'S GALLERY OF PRIME MINISTER
OF MALAYSIA
Mr. Speaker: May I bring to the attention of hon. members the presence
in the Speaker's gallery of a very distinguished guest of Canada the Honourable
Tun Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Some hon. Members: Hear,
hear!
Mr. Speaker: Even during his relatively brief tenure of office, the Prime Minister
has achieved an enviable reputation as the enlightened leader of a progressive
country and of a leading nation in the Commonwealth.
Just
a few weeks ago, Mr. Prime Minister, your government and your Parliament hosted
the annual meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. I am pleased
to have this occasion to thank you, your fellow parliamentarians and your
government for the generous hospitality which on that occasion you extended to
the Canadian members and Senators who represented the Canadian Parliament.
[Translation]
On
behalf of all my colleagues, I bid you the most cordial welcome.
[English]
On
behalf of my colleagues in the House of Commons I extend to you, Mr. Prime
Minister, the warmest of welcomes.
Some hon. Members: Hear,
hear!
ROUTINE PROCEEDINGS
CANADIAN CULTURE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF IMPLEMENTATION OF POLICY OF
MULTICULTURALISM WITHIN BILINGUAL FRAMEWORK
Right Hon. P. E. Trudeau (Prime Minister): Mr. Speaker, I am happy this morning to be able to reveal to the House
that the government has accepted all those recommendations of the Royal
Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism which are contained in Volume IV
of its reports directed to federal departments and agencies. Hon. members will
recall that the subject of this volume is "the contribution by other
ethnic groups to the cultural enrichment of Canada and the measures that should
be taken to safeguard that contribution".
Volume
IV examined the whole question of cultural and ethnic pluralism in this country
and the status of our various cultures and languages, an area of study given
all too little attention in the past by scholars.
It
was the view of the royal commission, shared by the government and, I am sure,
by all Canadians, that there cannot be one cultural policy for Canadians of
British and French origin, another for the original peoples and yet a third for
all others. For although there are two official languages, there is no official
culture, nor does any ethnic group take precedence over any other. No citizen
or group of citizens is other than Canadian, and all should be treated fairly.
The
royal commission was guided by the belief that adherence to one's ethnic group
is influenced not so much by one's origin or mother tongue as by one's sense of
belonging to the group, and by what the commission calls the group's
"collective will to exist". The government shares this belief.
(11:10a.m.)
The
individual's freedom would be hampered if he were locked for life within a
particular cultural compartment by the accident of birth or language. It is
vital, therefore, that every Canadian, whatever his ethnic origin, be given a
chance to learn at least one of the two languages in which his country conducts
its official business and its politics.
A
policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework commends itself to the
government as the most suitable means of assuring the cultural freedom of
Canadians. Such a policy should help to break down discriminatory attitudes and
cultural jealousies. National unity if it is to mean anything in the deeply
personal sense, must be founded on confidence in one's own individual identity;
out of this can grow respect for that of others and a willingness to share
ideas, attitudes and assumptions. A vigorous policy of multiculturalism will
help create this initial confidence. It can form the base of a society which is
based on fair play for all.
The
government will support and encourage the various cultures and ethnic groups
that give structure and vitality to our society. They will be encouraged to
share their cultural expression and values with other Canadians and so
contribute to a richer life for us all.
In
the past, substantial public support has been given largely to the arts and
cultural institutions of English speaking Canada. More recently and largely
with the help of the royal commission's earlier recommendations in Volumes I to
Ill, there has been a conscious effort on the government's part to correct any
bias against the French language and culture. In the last few months the
government has taken steps to provide funds to support cultural educational
centres for native people. The policy I am announcing today accepts the
contention of the other cultural communities that they, too, are essential
elements in Canada and deserve government assistance in order to contribute to
regional and national life in ways that derive from their heritage yet are
distinctively Canadian.
In
implementing a policy of multiculturalism within a bilingual framework, the
government will provide support in four ways.
First,
resources permitting, the government will seek to assist all Canadian cultural
groups that have demonstrated a desire and effort to continue to develop a
capacity to grow and contribute to Canada, and a clear need for assistance, the
small and weak groups no less than the strong and highly organized.
Second,
the government will assist members of all cultural groups to overcome cultural
barriers to full participation in Canadian society.
Third,
the government will promote creative encounters and interchange among all
Canadian cultural groups in the interest of national unity.
Fourth,
the government will continue to assist immigrants to acquire at least one of
Canada's official languages in order to become full participants in Canadian
society.
[Translation]
Mr.
Speaker, I stated at the outset that the government has accepted in principle
all recommendations addressed to federal departments and agencies. We are also
ready and willing to work co‑operatively with the provincial governments
towards implementing those recommendations that concern matters under
provincial or shared responsibility.
Some
of the programmes endorsed or recommended by the Commission have been
administered for some time by various federal agencies. I might mention the
Citizenship Branch, the CRTC and its predecessor the BBG the National Film
Board and the National Museum of Man. These programmes will be revised,
broadened and reactivated and they will receive the additional funds that may
be required.
Some
of the recommendations that concern matters under provincial jurisdiction call
for coordinated federal and provincial action. As a first step, I have written
to the First Ministers of the provinces informing them of the response of the
federal government and seeking their co‑operation. Officials will be
asked to carry this consultation further.
I
wish to table details of the government's response to each of the several
recommendations.
It
should be noted that some of the programmes require pilot projects or further
short‑term research before more extensive action can be taken. As soon as
these preliminary studies are available, further programmes will be announced
and initiated. Additional financial and personnel resources will be provided.
Responsibility
for implementing these recommendations has been assigned to the Citizenship
Branch of the Department of the Secretary of State, the agency now responsible
for matters affecting the social integration of immigrants and the cultural
activities of all ethnic groups. An Inter‑Agency Committee of all those
agencies involved will be established to co‑ordinate the federal effort.
[Mr Trudeau.]
[English]
In
conclusion, I wish to emphasize the view of the government that a policy of
multiculturalism within a bilingual framework is basically the conscious
support of individual freedom of choice. We are free to be ourselves. But this
cannot be left to chance. It must be fostered and pursued actively. If freedom
of choice is in danger for some ethnic groups, it is in danger for all. It is
the policy of this government to eliminate any such danger and to “safeguard”
this feeedom.
I am
tabling this document, Mr. Speaker, but it might be the desire of the House to
have it appended to Hansard in view
of its importance and long‑lasting effect.
Mr. Speaker: Is
that agreed?
Some hon. Members: Agreed.
[Editor's Note: For document referred to above, see
appendix.]
Hon. Robert L. Stanfield (Leader of the Opposition): Mr. Speaker, these are excellent words in the Prime Minister's
statement. I am sure this declaration by the government of the principle of
preserving and enhancing the many cultural traditions which exist within our
country will be most welcome. I think it is about time this government finally
admitted that the cultural identity of Canada is a pretty complex thing.
[Translation]
I
wish to state immediately, Mr. Speaker, that the emphasis we have given to
multiculturalism in no way constitutes an attack on the basic duality of our
country. What we want is justice for all Canadians, and recognition of the
cultural diversity of this country.
[English]
It is
about time the government finally recognized the validity of what we were
trying to say in June of 1969 at the time of the debate on the official
languages bill in the amendment we put forward then proposing recognition of
the right to speak other languages and the importance of assisting in the
development and preservation of these other cultures. The amendment said that
we can accept the official duality of the country without denying the rights of
other cultural groups. Our amendment was put forward for that purpose. It is
pleasing to note that the government this morning is recognizing the importance
of the rights of other cultural groups, although at that time our amendment was
rejected out of hand. I am pleased the government has seen the light. But I must
also say that, 'although this is all to the good, I regret that this statement
was not made much more promptly.
Apart
from what members of our party, among others, have been saying, it is a fact
that the fourth volume of the B and B report has been available since early
1970, and I say in all sincerity that the failure of the government to endorse
these principles earlier has created some suspicion, some doubts. in the minds
of the members of these other cultural groups about the importance the government
of Canada has attached to them. I must say that if the effectiveness of the
government's action in encouraging the cultural self‑fulfilment of the
native peoples of Canada can be taken as any kind of an indication of what the
practice will be in this broader field, apart from the statement of principles,
then there is not a great deal of hope for the various non‑French and non‑British
ethnic groups within Canada. With regard to the native peoples, there have been
many statements about high principles but very little in the way of results and
there is some doubt, to mention one example, concerning whether the government
is doing enough in northeastern Alberta to help the native peoples study their
own language.
(11:20a.m.)
It is
fine to announce a principle, but perhaps the most important thing is what the
government is going to do to implement this principle. When the Prime Minister
uses a phrase such as "within available funds" we must keep in mind
the importance of a balance here. There is no indication whatsoever in the
Prime Minister's statement this morning that there will be any substantial
implementation. I fully agree that a good deal of money must be expended for
the encouragement of the development of bilingualism in this country, but I do
not think that members of the other cultural groups with other cultural
traditions are at all happy with the relatively pitiful amounts that have been
allocated to this other aspect of the diversity about which the Prime Minister
spoke this morning, multiculturalism.
The
Prime Minister has announced the principles. We expect the Prime Minister and
his colleagues to give those principles life and meaning, and we will look
forward most anxiously to the implementation of these principles.
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.
To
cite a recent example, when I arrived a couple of months ago in that small but
great town of New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, I was greeted in literally ten
languages, four or five of which I was able to follow without translation. If Hansard permitted, Mr. Speaker, 1 would
have liked to express my pleasure at the Prime Minister's statement of
principles in at least two or three other languages in which 1 could do so
without breaking my teeth and in one or two others in which I could do so with
some difficulty.
Mr. Knowles (Winnipeg North Centre): Go ahead.
Mr. Lewis: I say that to emphasize the importance of appreciating the
cultural diversity of our land as one of the greatnesses of our people.
As a
representative from Toronto I could perhaps say that even a serious subject
permits of a little lightness. There was a time not so very long ago when there
were jokes made all across Canada about spending a month in Toronto last
weekend, and other remarks of that sort. But it is a fact that the influx of
people of Italian origin, of Greek origin, of West Indian origin, of origins
from many other parts of the world, has made Torontonians proud of their city
in a way in which they were not before, and makes some of them even suggest
that it is now a viable rival to the city of Montreal.
Yet,
Mr. Speaker, it is a fact of society that every minority has a problem of
survival. It has a problem of assimilation. It has a problem of keeping alive.
An hon. Member: The NDP.
Some hon. Members: Oh,
oh!
Mr. Knowles (Winnipeg North Centre): Or the Liberal party in British
Columbia.
Mr. Lewis: Mr.
Speaker, I must admit that at first I was annoyed by that vapid and rather
stupid remark from the other side of the House by the hon. member for New
Westminster, but I decided that perhaps the hon. member was trying to be funny
and, if he did not succeed, that may not be his fault.
Mr. Hees: He did pretty well.
Mr. Lewis: Mr. Speaker, if I may become serious again, 1 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 traditions, 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.
(11:30 a.m.)
I
make only these two short comments in conclusion. 1 suggest that our failure in
this area in the past was not the fault of any one government or any one level
of government in Canada. It has been a failure of all our people across this
country, a failure of Canadians to appreciate the importance of these things, a
failure of Canadians in their neglect of the native peoples of this country. 1
am not saying this to needle the Prime Minister or the government but I say,
because I believe it to be true. The statement of principles will be a mockery
and a betrayal of high ideals and objectives unless collectively we provide the
funds to make the principles meaningful in the lives of the minorities in
Canada, and unless we develop programs in consultation with the minorities, giving
them every opportunity to participate in the development of programs rather
than imposing such programs on them. Democracy requires this kind of
consideration, and with all my heart I hope that the statement of principles
will be followed with action which will make us all proud of our country.
[Translation]
Mr. Réal Caouette (Témiscamingue): Mr. Speaker, even if I do not always
agree with the Prime Minister on various points, I fully agree with the
statement he made this morning. Indeed, I have been repeating for 30 years, to
those who will hear me, and those who won't, that we have one Canadian nation
and not two, three or ten, that we have two official languages, English and
French, and that we have a multiplicity of cultures which are the wealth of our
country.
Mr.
Speaker, my colleagues and myself are happy the Prime Minister made that
statement. However, I find this statement somewhat confusing. The Prime
Minister has stated and I quote:
For although there are two official languages, there is no official
culture, nor does any ethnic group take precedence over any other. No citizen
or group of citizens is other than Canadian...
Mr.
Speaker, if there is no official culture in Canada, I do not see how we could
succeed in really becoming a nation while we would be endowed with only a few
cultures unable to get on among themselves or at war with one another. I am
positive that we have in Canada a culture peculiar to us. We French Canadians
have one that is not at all that of France, just as English‑speaking
Canadians have a culture which is different from that of
Englishmen
from England. We have our own Canadian culture. We have our history. Our
traditions and customs may differ from one area or ethnic group to another.
However, if we cannot change an Englishman into a Frenchman, or vice versa, we
can nonetheless make good Canadians out of members of all ethnic groups in
Canada.
Ukrainians,
Italians and Germans must be able to attain self‑fulfilment in Canada.
I am
absolutely convinced that Canadians in general share the views expressed this
morning by the Prime Minister. So there is no reason to worry. There is trouble
in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. Some say that if things are going wrong, it
is the fault of French Canadians or English Canadians, or because we welcome
too many immigrants, and so on.
[Mr. Lewis.]
[English]
What
I said in French was that we do not want to have in Canada a little France, a
little England, a little Italy or a little Russia. We want in Canada a great
country for all the people of Canada, for all the ethnic groups in our country.
Through that channel we will achieve unity and we will reinforce our position
in the whole world.
UNITED NATIONS
ALBANIAN RESOLUTION TO EXPEL TAIWAN‑REQUEST
FOR UNANIMOUS CONSENT TO MOVE MOTION UNDER
S.O.43
Mr. Heath Macquarrie (Hillsborough): Mr. Speaker, under the provisions of Standing Order 43 1 seek the
unanimous consent of the House to propose a motion dealing with an important
aspect of the conduct of this country's foreign policy, namely, the announced
intention of the Canadian United Nations delegation to vote for the Albanian
resolution calling for the expulsion of a member of the United Nations.
I
move, seconded by the hon. member for Halifax‑East Hants (Mr. McCleave):
That, before Canada's vote is
cast on this very serious, important and portentous resolution that the
question be referred to the Standing Committee on External Affairs and National
Defence for full discussion and consideration.
Mr. Speaker: Hon.
members have heard the motion proposed by the hon. member for Hillsborough. Is
there unanimous consent?
Some hon. Members: Agreed.
Some hon. Members: No.
Mr. Speaker: There
is not unanimous consent and the motion cannot be put.
ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE
INCREASE IN MURDERS IN MONTREAL AND PROVINCE
REQUEST FOR UNANIMOUS CONSENT TO MOVE MOTION
UNDER S.O. 43
Mr. Warren Allmand (Notre‑Dame‑de‑Grâce):
Mr. Speaker, I would like to move a motion under Standing Order 43
regarding an extremely important matter and I would ask for unanimous consent
to put the said motion. As of this date 40 violent murders have taken place in
Montreal during 1971, which constitutes an all‑time record for that city.
At the same time, 78 murders have taken place in western Quebec and the
province as a whole is also moving toward a record in this regard. A good many
of these murders appear to have been carried out by organized criminal groups.
I might point out that the same thing is taking place in other provinces but I
do not have the statistics. I would therefore move
That the Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs be instructed to conduct an inquiry into the causes and nature of violent crime in Canada, and that recommendations be formulated for the amendment of the appropriate criminal law statutes.