SoVote

Decentralized Democracy

Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Ken Hardie

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
  • Liberal
  • Fleetwood—Port Kells
  • British Columbia
  • Voting Attendance: 68%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $140,090.09

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 176 - Mar/30/23
Mr. Ken Hardie (Fleetwood—Port Kells, Lib.)
  • Mar/30/23 5:47:44 p.m.
  • Watch
Madam Speaker, in recognizing the effort that it took to get the international mother language day to this point, I do have to recognize the tireless efforts of our consul general from Bangladesh, because Bangladesh is where this all started. They saw something important and have been working tirelessly across all nations to bring this to where we are today. I mentioned the food, poetry and music, but there is also the issue of humour. I will divert for a second here, because years ago, I got to attend a lecture by Marshall McLuhan who said that one could tell an awful lot about society by its language and its humour. He told a story from the Soviet Union, and this is back in the early 1960s. The Soviet Union said it was going to lighten up a little bit and was going to build a nightclub, and it did. It opened with great fanfare, but eight months later it was shuttered, and so there was a Russian equivalent of a royal commission to find out what happened. Members of the commission asked the people questions: What about the decor, was it okay? They said that they had copied great designs from Paris, Rome and Berlin. What about the food or the booze? It was perfect, and things people could not get in Russia they could get at their nightclub. What about the chorus line? It was perfect, every one a good party member since 1917. That was a big joke in Russia back in those days, but it told a little bit about the ethos that we had at that time. The ethos here I think was most appropriately set by our late friend and superb parliamentarian, Jim Carr, from his final speech in the House of Commons. He said, “I love this country, every square metre of it, in English, in French, in indigenous languages and in the languages of the newly arrived.” I would like to repurpose Jim's following remarks, because his remarks were intended to preempt the notion that his private member's bill on greening the Prairie economy somehow encroached on provincial jurisdiction. Jim said that rather than a federal intrusion, it added leaves to the table, one that we set to build a better Canada. That, too, is the outcome of celebrating international mother language day across Canada each February 21. We are not constraining, diluting, confusing or imposing. We are adding leaves to Canada's cultural table. The feast we enjoy by doing so will be satisfying in every way.
430 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
  • star_border