I had - and have - huge respect for John Crow.
— Paul Martin
I got a call from a group saying they'd like to have a roundtable with the reserve next door, and would I help to set it up. I said, 'Sure, what's the name of the chief?' I asked, 'Do you know any members of the band council?' They didn't.
If you take a look at the breaches of rights, whether it's the underfunding of education or health care, and all these issues which accentuate the poverty of Canada's indigenous people, and the lack of reaction to them - it becomes clear that if Canadians understood what's at stake, they wouldn't stand for it.
One of the first things that the First Nations are going to have to decide is, is it going to 640 communities, or is it, in fact, going to be some 50 to 60 nations.
The facts are plain: Religious leaders who preside over marriage ceremonies must and will be guided by what they believe. If they do not wish to celebrate marriages for same-sex couples, that is their right. The Supreme Court says so. And the Charter says so.
The vicious circle has been shattered. Canadians now enjoy the benefits of the virtuous circle.
If we do not step forward, then we step back. If we do not protect a right, then we deny it.
Have you ever, on a cloudless night, looked down from a passing aircraft flying over Canada? Endless, glowing strings of cities, towns, and homesteads. Stretching on and on, one province to the next. With only the stars in the distance.
As a people, we know what we can do, we know how to do it, and we just want to get on with it. How? By ensuring that Canada's place in the world is one of influence and pride.
Reasonable people can have differences.
We, as Canadians, have no hesitation lecturing the rest of the world on what they should be doing, how they shouldn't discriminate, and how they should treat the poor. That same discrimination - unfairness that exists in so many of these countries - has been practised for years in our own country.
My view was that if you're going to make a mistake in your predictions, make sure you make them the right way. Don't put yourself into a situation where, in fact, you say you're going to do something, and then all of a sudden you can't.
It is racist, and it was racist when it was created. The Indian Act controls, or seeks to control, the lives of all indigenous people in a way that you and I would never accept.
I rise today in support of Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act. I rise in support of a Canada in which liberties are safeguarded, rights are protected and the people of this land are treated as equals under the law.
The people of Canada have worked hard to build a country that opens its doors to include all, regardless of their differences; a country that respects all, regardless of their differences; a country that demands equality for all, regardless of their differences.
I rise in support of a Canada in which liberties are safeguarded, rights are protected and the people of this land are treated as equals under the law.
Every Canadian who wants to learn should have the opportunity to do so.
Canadians would not tolerate it if they really knew there was a whole generation of aboriginal Canadians who have a chance at a better education and are being denied it.
Most Canadians previously had no idea what went on in the residential schools. You tell Canadians the last one closed in 1996, they are appalled. So now that Canadians are aware of residential schools, you'd think there would be a huge impetus for progress. It hasn't, and that's amazing.
You do not want to get your debt ratio out of whack.
In Canada, women's rights are a vital part of our effort to build a society of real equality - not just for some, but for all Canadians. A society in which women no longer encounter discrimination nor are shut out from opportunities open to others.
For years governments have been promising more than they can deliver, and delivering more than they can afford.
The achievements we forge in this place and in our nation will not be those of one person or one party.
I really think Canada should get over to Iraq as quickly as possible.
At a moment that comes rarely in the life of a country. It is a time when destiny is ours to hold.
