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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 42

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
March 21, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Ms. Pam Damoff (Oakville North—Burlington, Lib.)
  • Mar/21/22 2:10:08 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians should be able to live a true and authentic life, free from violence and discrimination, no matter who they are, where they live or how they appear. Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. We know that the elimination of racial discrimination is not confined to 24 hours on March 21, but is required 24-7, 365 days a year. Nelson Mandela shared the following truth many years ago, which I would like to highlight today. He said, “No one is born hating another person because of the colour of [their] skin, [their] background, or [their] religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” Let us keep raising our voices, bringing down the towers of oppression, and keep doing the right thing for generations of the past, present and future.
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Context: House Hansard - 42 - Mar/21/22
Mr. Blake Desjarlais (Edmonton Griesbach, NDP)
  • Mar/21/22 2:14:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, today I join all New Democrats in marking the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. As a Métis person, I know first-hand how the tolerant image that Canada projects on the world stage can hide ugly realities, racism and discrimination. Too often, this shiny image does not match the reality that indigenous peoples, Black Canadians, Asian Canadians, Muslim Canadians and other racialized people, both in my riding of Edmonton Griesbach and across the country, face every single day. Canada must wake up to the reality that we have a serious and growing problem with white supremacy and hatred. We saw another reminder of how serious this problem is just days ago when a Mississauga mosque was violently attacked in an act of islamophobic hate. Words of solidarity and symbolic gestures are not enough to stop the ongoing violence and dismantle the systemic racism that continues to thrive in Canada today. We need real solutions.
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