QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage
Canadian Identity
September 25, 2025
Thank you, and that is duly noted. Your new portfolio as Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture includes a wide range of responsibilities. You described part of your role as, and I quote:
. . . to work with people from across the country to help define and better promote our identity, and perhaps to restore a sense of unity.
I’d like you to expand on the pillars you intend to rely on to restore this sense of unity, taking into account the size of the country, its diversity, the various regional issues and regional identities, which often evolve in isolation and apart from one another, which can lead to misunderstandings —
I don’t think I’ve done so yet, but I think it’s worth mentioning my full title. I’m the Minister of Canadian Identity and Culture, Minister responsible for Official Languages, Minister of Nature and Minister responsible for Parks Canada. I am also the Minister responsible for Sport, Diversity and Inclusion — I think I’m missing one — and the government’s lieutenant for Quebec.
Except for that last one, however, as the Prime Minister and our government see it, all of these items are part of Canada’s identity, especially our official languages. I am, of course, the minister responsible for the Indigenous Languages Act, which means I deal with Indigenous cultures and languages, our natural environment and the great outdoors. As we saw last summer with the Canada Strong pass, I can tell you off the top of my head that visits to Parks Canada locations and historical monuments across the country increased by 15%. All of these are the pillars of our identity, as you mentioned. How do we work, with that as our starting point, to strengthen this Canadian identity of ours? I think that some of the work has already been done, considering the response to what came from down south, the threat to our economy, our sovereignty and our culture, when the public’s natural instinct was to pull together, but how can we continue to —
Thank you, minister.
Honourable senators, I’m sure you will join me in thanking Minister Guilbeault for his appearance today.
Thank you, minister, for your presence in the Senate of Canada and for taking part in this question period.
