1st Parliament, 4th Session, 9th Sitting

The ninth sitting of the fourth session of the first Parliament was the final sitting of MHoC's first year as a Lisgar club. It was a scene of intense emotion, and many members expressed their fond goodbyes for the summer, and, in the case of Conservative MP for Carleton Brentan Lam, their farewells.

House Motion #018
House Motion #018 was introduced by the Honourable Brentan Lam MP to review the sale of arms to Israel in light of the recent conflict between it and Palestine.

Text
"I beg to move, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that this House notes with concern the recent violence in the Gaza strip; finds the apparent war crimes committed by Israeli forces troubling; therefore is concerned that Ministers have not disclosed whether Canada-made exports were used in the recent bombardment of the Gaza Strip and repression of civilian protests in Israel and the occupied territory; urges the Government to conduct a full audit of permits for current arms exports to Israel, and an investigation to determine whether Canada-made arms and components have been used in the recent violence, and consider ending all foreign aid for Israel if necessary."

Update on Reconciliation
Brentan Lam, the Conservative member for Carleton, questioned the Prime Minister on what was being done since the passage of Bill C-2 to improve the quality of life on reserves, and what feedback the government was receiving from Indigenous communities with its implementation. Prime Minister William Cooper replied with the information that the government was receiving much positive feedback and that the overall response from Indigenous communities was overwhelmingly positive.

William Cooper
"Thank you, Mr. Speaker, I have a statement prepared, but I would first like to begin by informing The House of the tremendous progress that we have made in our fundraiser for Indspire. As you no doubt are aware, and as many members of the House are no doubt aware, we have been conducting a charity fundraiser for Dndspire. It is an Indigenous-led, national charity that provides learning assistance to indigenous youth across Canada. And we have as of yesterday, surpassed our $500 goal. We have now raised $502. And we have also raised 334.66% of our original $150 goal. I never expected to have to increase the goal to $500, and $250 at the start. And I am tremendously proud of this club and everything that we have accomplished together. Now I'll proceed with the prepared statement that I have here.""Thank you Mr. Speaker, and let me just begin by expressing my deep and profound regret at my inability to be present at last week's sitting. I am deeply ashamed that I was not in attendance at the debate for my Conservative colleague's very important motion, which for the record I fully support. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to take this opportunity to reflect on what we, not just the government, but the entire House of Commons, have achieved together throughout this extraordinary past year: We have passed universal pharmacare. We have passed sweeping reforms to the quality of life on Indigenous reserves. We have become a signatory to the UN Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. We have, thanks to the member for Carleton, made significant progress in the field of animal welfare. We have commenced some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects since the Trans-Canada Railroad. My friends and colleagues, none of this would have been possible without your hard work and dedication, and it is to you that I dedicate this applause."

Simon Mezo
"I would just like to thank the other members in this House for passing a wide variety of bills and motions that reform, very, very important aspects of Canadian life like yes, as The Honorable Prime Minister mentioned, voting reform and Indigenous issues and issues like that. So I'd just like to thank everyone for a very productive year."

Brentan Lam
Thank you Mr. Speaker, the Honorable Prime Minister and my honorable colleagues. I would like to make a personal statement to the House. In 2013, my family and I visited Canada for the first time. It was the first time I had ever set foot in North America and I can still very much remember how awestruck I was by the imposing Rocky Mountains, and the majestic Niagara Falls. Since then I had fallen in love with Canada and that is why I made the move to here in 2019.

Canada is special in that it is a democratic, truly free country. Considering that the natural tendency is totalitarian starvation, it is a miracle that we find ourselves in. Democracy and freedom might seem like default, as many people would assume, going about their day without considering how much suffering there is in other brutal dictatorships. It is up to every one of us to safeguard it, to cherish it, and to defend it.

The reason why I joined this Parliament is because I was eager to have true discussions. Classroom discussions are always mundane to say the least, full of buzzwords from the zeitgeist of the day, permeated with assumptions that were defenseless against logic and reasoning, and the over zealous self censorship of words. What results is not a true discussion, but a charade, a game of telephone, which reaches no true conclusion but serves to assail the ears of everyone. People in this school, I confidently believe, are all well intentioned, but do not deliver their true thoughts for the sake of not offending anyone. Chances are, if one bears no ill will and applies proper logic, reasoning and knowledge, one’s words will not be offensive or untruthful.

But I digress, because my main point is, I consider this House an immense success—pressing issues were debated thoroughly, social problems were dealt with, and opinions and ideas openly challenged. Under the leadership of the Prime Minister, and supervision under the teacher, and graced with the many invaluable contributions made by my honorable colleagues, we have truly created a free, public forum, an exemplar for others to imitate. This place is filled with impassioned people who are motivated by their notion of the national interest, by their perception of the public good and by their duty not as democrats, but as representatives of the people to ensure what they believe is good governance. Hence, I am very grateful to have had the chance to serve my constituency of Carleton, bringing both international and domestic issues to the forefront, and giving a voice to the people. I am also grateful to all members of the House for a truly memorable experience.

Alas, all good things must come to an end, I shall be standing down as an MP from effect on the 22nd of June as I graduate from Lisgar. It is the beginning of an end, and an end to a new beginning. I wish everyone the very best health and luck and success in all future endeavors. Thank you very much.

Post-Sitting
Many topics were discussed post-sitting, among them the future of the club, and how it would be adapted for in-person meetings, how meetings across multiple schools would work, and Brentan Lam's graduation. Chatting went on for 58 minutes, and members reminisced about fond memories of MHoC. The meeting concluded with the playing of Auld Lang Syne for Lam's retirement, and fond remarks from many MPs wishing him the best of luck in his future endeavours.