Statement made on 17 February 2011 by Senator Mac Harb
Hon. Mac Harb:
Honourable senators, I am pleased to speak to Bill C-442, a bill that was passed unanimously in the other place and that I believe will receive the same unanimous support here in the Senate.
Of all the preambles to legislation I have read in my many years on Parliament Hill, the opening paragraphs of Bill C-442 conjure up the darkest and most horrific images — of genocide, of hate crimes and of the unimaginable suffering of those affected by the actions of the Nazi regime.
Within that same preamble, there is a call to action. Allow me to quote:
Whereas the establishment of a national monument shall forever remind Canadians of one of the darkest chapters in human history and of the dangers of state-sanctioned hatred and anti-Semitism;
And whereas a national monument shall act as a tool to help future generations learn about the root causes of the Holocaust and its consequences in order to help prevent future acts of genocide;
Honourable senators, to remind and to teach — that, I believe, lies at the heart of the raison d'être for this national monument.
My colleague the Honourable Member of Parliament for Mount Royal in the other house said it best when he pointed out that this discussion was taking place at a particularly apt moment — "... a moment of remembrance and reminder, of witness and warning."
This phrase "of remembrance and reminder, of witness and warning" defines precisely the role that this monument will play in our national capital.
Building a national Holocaust monument takes all of our lofty sentiments and speeches and ensures that they will be more than words, more than promises.
Once the monument is built, we will have a tangible, daily reminder of Canada's intolerance toward hate-filled ideologies. The monument will teach future generations about the root causes and consequences of the Holocaust. It will help to prevent future acts of genocide.
It will remind and inform visitors of Canada's long-standing values of freedom, democracy, and the defence of human rights at home and abroad. It will serve as our commitment to vigilance and to timely action as part of the international community.
Honourable senators, anti-Semitism has plagued the world for centuries. Taken to its most far-reaching and violent extreme, the Holocaust, anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of millions of Jewish men, women and children, and the suffering of countless others.
According to the Report on Global Anti-Semitism, more subtle forms of anti-Semitism continue to disrupt lives. For an increasingly interdependent world, anti-Semitism is an intolerable burden.
Honourable senators are aware that Canada has its own guilt to carry. Seventy-two years ago, in June, 1939, the St. Louis, a German ocean liner carrying 930 Jewish refugees, was coldly turned away from the American and Canadian coasts. For far too many of those refugees, hope was lost.
More recently, B'nai Brith Canada has drawn our attention to the verbal and physical attacks perpetrated against Jewish students at university campuses across Canada.
Education remains a strong antidote for anti-Semitism and other forms of intolerance. In 1998, the Stockholm Conference addressed the serious concern about the fading awareness of the Holocaust, in particular among the younger generation. Out of this concern, the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research was born.
Honourable senators, Canada is a member state of this intergovernmental body and is committed to remembering the victims who perished, to respecting the survivors and to reaffirming humanity's common aspiration for mutual understanding and justice. This monument will help Canada in its effort to fulfill this pledge.
Honourable senators, since opening in 1993, some 30 million visitors, including more than 8 million schoolchildren have visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, D.C. I have visited that museum, along with an outstanding community leader, named Eric Vernon, I learned more and I know more.
The museum has also contributed to symposiums such as that held in November 15, 2010, in Paris. At this international symposium, leading genocide prevention and human rights officials and experts from around the world gathered to assess the current capacities of government to respond effectively to genocide and mass atrocities. Their goal was to recommend strategies to enhance international cooperation.
Canada's role in these international efforts can be enhanced with increased awareness and understanding here at home. The Canadian Holocaust Memorial Project is organized by a group of Canadians dedicated to the creation of this monument. This group will, as the second stage of the project, be developing a national strategy in order to educate Canadians on the effects of the Holocaust and to ensure that the event remains in Canadians' minds.
I do believe that the physical presence of the monument will be a springboard for further initiatives to educate and inform Canadians.
Honourable senators, Canada is home to some 16,000 Holocaust survivors, many in their 80s. Time is of the essence.
These survivors deserve to see this physical manifestation of Canada's support and of its pledge to remember, in their lifetime.
Canada is one of few western nations without a national tribute honouring victims and survivors of the Holocaust. Austria, France, Germany, Sweden and the United States have such memorials.
The Canadian Jewish Congress and B'Nai Brith have expressed their support for this bill and its goal of creating a national monument to commemorate the Holocaust.
Honourable senators, we cannot be complacent. We have only to look to Rwanda, to Bosnia, to Darfur, or to the all-too-common acts of vandalism and violence that continue to arise out of hatred and intolerance to know that as Canadians, we must be vigilant and proactive.
I commend our colleagues in the other place for finding unanimity on this bill. I believe there is a singularity of purpose in this proposed legislation that transcends partisan lines. I encourage every honourable senator in this chamber to support this worthwhile and important legislation.