House of Commons Debates

House of Commons Debates VOLUME 148 Ï NUMBER 249 Ï 1st SESSION Ï 42nd PARLIAMENT OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD) Monday, December 11, 2017 Speaker: The Honourable Geoff Regan CONTENTS (Table of Contents appears at back of this issue.) 16215 HOUSE OF COMMONS Monday, December 11, 2017 The House met at 11 a.m. and taking our territory. They had already taken a good chunk of Mexico only 20 years earlier. Many of our early leaders thought we would be stronger together Prayer than we would be apart, and they were most certainly correct. We cannot say for sure if Confederation kept the Americans from launching a second invasion, but it certainly did not hurt. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Since Confederation, what about the contributions that Canadians Ï (1105) have made to the world, in sports, medicine, industry, science, and [English] our brave contributions to numerous wars, conflicts, and peace- keeping operations, where Canadians have always punched above RECOGNITION OF CHARLOTTETOWN AS THE their weight? These contributions were certainly aided by an BIRTHPLACE OF CONFEDERATION ACT optimistic and forward-looking country that continues to defy the odds. If Canada did not form as one, and each region of our nation The House resumed from December 4 consideration of the was its own entity, would different parts of Canada have the same motion that Bill S-236, An Act to recognize Charlottetown as the voice internationally as our united Canada has had throughout our birthplace of Confederation, be read the third time and passed. history? I would say, likely not. Hon. K. Kellie Leitch (Simcoe—Grey, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure this morning to rise to speak to Bill S-236, We would not be in the G7. We would not have the same sporting an act to recognize Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confederation. record, particularly Team Canada, women and men on the international stage. We would not have the enviable list of inventors, Confederation is an important event for Canadians, but especially like Sir Frederick Banting, who is from my riding of Simcoe—Grey. for Conservatives, since two Conservatives, Sir John A. Macdonald, We would not have come together in that meeting. We would not our first prime minister, and George-Étienne Cartier, a minister and have had that opportunity in Charlottetown in 1864. Quebec lieutenant, were involved in making sure that this country came together. Charlottetown was in many ways the ideal location for such a Sir John A. Macdonald, as our first prime minister, was at the conference. It was not involved in the daily tug-of-war among the Charlottetown Conference that took place between September 1 and provinces of Canada, nor the larger Maritime partners of New 7 of 1864. It changed the course of Canadian, North American, and Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Charlottetown and Prince Edward world history. Island were a neutral ground, where all players could speak freely. What would Canada be if not for John A. Macdonald, a man with At that conference, the delegates from the regions that now a vision of a Canada from coast to coast, and of delegates in represent Quebec and Ontario were not even invited to begin with. Charlottetown, recognizing that we would be stronger together? The original conference was to discuss a maritime union between How would the manifest destiny so loudly proclaimed by our New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. When the southern neighbours have turned out? They had tried invasion once Province of Canada heard about the conference, members invited before, only to be foiled by a combination of British redcoats, themselves. It was an invitation to pitch a full union between the English and French-speaking Canadian militia, and loyal indigenous Maritimes and the Province of Canada. While welcome, their arrival warriors, who worked together to bravely keep the invading did not stir much excitement, and why was that? Quite literally, it Americans at bay. was because a circus had come to Charlottetown for the first time in We managed in that campaign to occupy Detroit and burn down 20 years, and the whole town was occupied with those sights and half of the White House, but that is another story. sounds, not something else. While we had repelled the Americans once before, many here in Having been recently at my own party's leadership convention, British North America at that time were very worried about a which was held right beside an anime convention, I have a pretty potentially victorious Union army turning its Civil War guns north good idea of what was going on in Charlottetown that day. 16216 COMMONS DEBATES December 11, 2017 Private Members' Business Despite the lacklustre start, meetings proceeded over the next few am particularly proud of, as a parliamentarian sitting today in the days with great success. What was even more successful were the House of Commons, is the diversity of the backgrounds of the relationships forged between individuals from across our then people sitting in the House of Commons representing this country. fledgling country. I am sure that the welcoming and friendly atmosphere, still present today, had something to do with building In my own case, on my father's side, my ancestry is Irish. We all those friendships in Charlottetown. know that the Irish fled Ireland during the Great Famine to come to a Ï (1110) new world for new opportunities, and they found it in Canada, on Prince Edward Island. On my mother's side, my ancestry is French I am also quite certain that the boatload of champagne, that today Acadian. My ancestors fled Grand-Pré in Nova Scotia. They were would cost about $200,000, contributed just a tad to making sure that fleeing strife and war, and found a welcoming environment in Prince people got along. That is Charlottetown. Edward Island. To this day, this country still reaches out to people Each time I have visited, I have felt the warmth of its presence. In fleeing oppression, war, and a number of atrocities across the world. fact, I and my family, this past February, learned of our own family That is what Canada is all about, and that is why I am proud to be a farmstead, the Conway farmstead on Prince Edward Island. parliamentarian standing for those freedoms and rights. Charlottetown is friendly. Friendships are easily made. Charlotte- town stays in one's memory. We cannot forget that it was the indigenous people who welcomed us. Regardless of our cultural backgrounds, they welcomed us here. There is no place in Canada that I could think would have been a It was the Mi'kmaq of Prince Edward Island who welcomed the better place to host the leaders of the Maritimes and the provinces of Acadians as they were being expelled by the British from Grand-Pré Canada. It certainly worked. Charlottetown, aided by a bit of in Nova Scotia. They also welcomed the Irish who were forced to champagne, charmed the delegates into unanimous support of the flee Ireland due to famine. creation of a united Canada, based on the values we hold dear today. There were a number of steps afterward that led to the creation of Today, having the opportunity to speak in support of Bill S-236 Canada and what we would be known to become on the international that would recognize Charlottetown as the birthplace of Confedera- stage. Quebec, a month later, nailed down the final details, then tion, is indeed an honour for me, as I indicated, having served in the meetings in all the colonies to approve the union, and then finally in Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island for 18 years. I can London in 1866, there was the approval of Her Majesty Queen recall the first time that I took my seat in that legislative assembly. I Victoria. looked around and, although small, I recognized the history of that Charlottetown is where it started and, for this, I am happy to say chamber. that Charlottetown is the birthplace of Confederation. It is also why I am happy to support this bill. Ï (1115) Mr. Robert Morrissey (Egmont, Lib.): Madam Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to speak in support of Bill S-236 From that meeting, in that chamber, this wonderful country, this that was introduced by my colleague, the member of Parliament for great nation called Canada, came about. We it owe our forefathers, Malpeque. It was interesting to listen to my colleague, the opposition who had the vision at that time, to recognize that we had to member, speak about the recognition that indeed Charlottetown is overcome a number of obstacles and disagreements to come up with birthplace of Confederation and of this wonderful country we call a shared vision. That shared vision continues. It is debated from time Canada. to time, and each new Parliament adds dimension to that vision as Canada evolves as a nation on the world stage. Why I want to speak in support of the bill today is because my political career began in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward From where we are today, it all began in Charlottetown, Prince Island. I will be the only member voting in support of this piece of Edward Island. That is why I am pleased to speak in the House of legislation who has sat in the Legislative Assembly of Prince Commons here today, now as a member of Parliament from Prince Edward Island, with the hope that the House will recognize Edward Island, in support of Bill S-236 that will recognize Charlottetown as the birthplace of this wonderful country.

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