Promoting
Cross Cultural Understanding In
Canadian Society
Remarks
by Hon. David Kilgour at a Roundtable
in Room 237-C, Centre Block,
House of Commons, Ottawa,
April 7, 2003
Vos
excellences, leaders religieux distingués, sénateurs et
députés,
mesdames et messieurs :
My
allotted time from my friend Secretary
of State Jean (Augustine) is very
short, so let me get right to
the point.
Plusieurs
actes de violences et pertes de
vies pendant le 20ième
siècle sont attribuables à des
tyrans tels qu’Adolf Hitler, Joseph Staline, Pol Pot et plusieurs
autres dont leurs idéologies respectives
abhorraient la religion et souvent aussi, la diversité
culturelle/linguistique.
After
1989, many people of good will
hoped there would be constitutional
space for diversity everywhere
on this shrinking planet. Instead,
harassment and much worse are
now occurring in too many lands
among members of differing faith,
cultural and linguistic communities.
Normally, it’s members of a larger
group picking on a smaller one;
no country, including Canada,
is immune to the age-old phenomenon.
Can
there ever be sustainable peace
on earth until there is genuine
harmony among our religious, cultural
and linguistic communities domestically
and internationally? Is it enough
today for, say, a political/religious/cultural/
linguistic leader to speak
of peace and love when some of
their own supporters are actively
persecuting persons of other faith,
cultural or linguistic communities?
How can we all learn to welcome
diversity or “otherness” in these
vital areas? We Edmontonians have
lessons to learn like everyone
else, but, ladies and gentlemen,
I don’t think I was ever prouder
than the day several years ago
when hundreds if not thousands
of us of all faiths rallied at
our city hall to protest the persecution
of our Muslim brothers and sisters
in former Yugoslavia.
At
an interfaith service of prayer
for peace in this city on March
23rd, in which a number
of us here today participated,
the concluding prayer included
this thought:
If
a man said, 'It’s not one gesture
of love which will save humanity'...There
would never be friendship and
peace on earth...and Peace depends
on each irreplaceable one of us.
This
morning, I hope that your individual
insights will teach us all and
those many watching on CPAC beyond
how cross-cultural understanding
can be enhanced from sea-to-sea-to-sea
in Canada and perhaps beyond it.
Thank
you.
|
