HL Deb 11 May 1967 vol 282 cc1583-8

2.58 p.m.

THE EARL OF LONGFORD rose to move, That this House most sincerely congratulates the Senate of Canada upon its centenary and upon the fulfilment of the farseeing hopes with which the Government of Queen Victoria introduced the British North America Bill into this House in 1867, and assures the Canadian Parliament and people of its continuing interest in their future, and in the maintenance of the close ties which have been built up over the past hundred years between this House and the Senate; and that this Resolution be communicated to the Senate of Canada with the warm greetings of this House.

The noble Earl said: My Lords, I rise to move the Motion which stands in my name on the Order Paper. Before I do so, I should like to tell your Lordships that earlier this week I had the pleasure of entertaining Senator Connolly, the Leader of the Senate in Canada. I was then able to discuss with him this Motion, and was pleased to hear from him that what we are setting out to do to-day would be warmly received in the Senate in Canada.

The hundred years since the creation of the Confederation of Canada and of the first independent nation of the Commonwealth have seen the peaceful evolution of a young pioneer society into one of the most advanced industrial nations of to-day. Yet her standing to-day on the world scene is based not only on the material wealth created by the strenuous endeavours of her people but in the example of responsibility, enterprise and democracy which Canada has given to the world in her domestic affairs and in all her dealings abroad.

Members of this House need not be reminded of the sacrifices of Canada—our ally in two world wars—in past years. To-day her efforts continue, within the Commonwealth, within NATO, within the United Nations, for the safeguarding of world peace, the pacification of troubled areas, and the bringing of prosperity to the developing countries. Her contribution to the more harmonious world order which we are all seeking has been second to none. But in moving this Resolution I should like particularly to suggest that Canada's pre-eminent role in modern society and in the international scene is above all a measure of the soundness of her roots, the spirit of her people and the Parliamentary institutions which have so outstandingly guarded her democratic tradition. My Lords, I beg to move.

Moved, That this House most sincerely congratulates the Senate of Canada upon its centenary and upon the fulfilment of the farseeing hopes with which the Government of Queen Victoria introduced the British North America Bill into this House in 1867, and assures the Canadian Parliament and people of its continuing interest in their future, and in the maintenance of the close ties which have been built up over the past hundred years between this House and the Senate; and that this Resolution be communicated to the Senate of Canada with the warm greetings of this House.—(The Earl of Longford.)

LORD CARRINGTON

My Lords, there will be no-one in this House who will not wish to associate himself with the Motion moved by the noble Earl, and with the way in which he has commended it to your Lordships. I rise only to say that we who sit on this side of the House wish to join in the good wishes to the Senate and the people of Canada expressed by the Leader of the House.

Earlier this week we were discussing the Common Market, and there may have been some who thought that in some degree this decision might affect the ties—the family ties and the ties of relationship and affection—of those whose history originated in this country and who form the Commonwealth. This would be a complete misjudgment. On the contrary, we believe that such an association will mean a stronger Britain and, consequently, a stronger and closer Commonwealth. Canadians should always know that whatever may happen in the future, Common Market or no, they can always expect from us in this country the same feelings of friendship and kinship which have existed for these last hundred years.

LORD BYERS

My Lords, we on these Benches should very much like to be associated with this Motion, and I should personally like to endorse the words of the Leader of the House and of the Leader of the Opposition—and particularly what the noble Lord, Lord Carrington, said about the Common Market. We have a very high regard for the Canadian people. Speaking personally, again, I was in a position during the war to appreciate the very great contribution made by, first, the Canadian Corps, and later the Canadian Army. We on these Benches, in particular, have many friends in the Liberal Administration of Canada, and we should like to join with the other Parties in this House in sending the warmest greetings to the Senate.

LORD ROWLEY

My Lords, as Deputy Chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, which has 900 members from both Houses of this Parliament, I hope I may be allowed to associate myself with this Motion on behalf of the United Kingdom branch. Last year the Annual Conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association was held in Ottowa. The plenary sessions of the Conference were held in the Senate House of the Canadian Parliament, and the committee sittings were held in the Lower House. I am not sure that my noble friend Lord Shepherd, as a hereditary Peer, did not make history as a result of his making speeches at one of the committees in an elected Chamber.

However, be that as it may, I think I should be expected by all the members of the United Kingdom branch to express on their behalf our warm welcome and our warm support of this Motion. I made my own position clear in the debate on the Common Market the other day, but I should like to endorse very strongly what has just been said by the Leader of the Opposition: that the Commonwealth of Nations, whatever action we may take in entering the European Economic Community, will remain as one of the great forces for peace and cooperation in the world in the future.

THE EARL OF SELKIRK

My Lords, I am sure the House does not want to linger long on a Motion about which we are all so fully agreed, but we owe so much to Canada that it would be a pity if there were any suggestion that this was a formal acceptance of what has been moved. I wish particularly to refer to the point which my noble friend Lord Carrington has made, because in the discussions on the European Economic Community not very much was said about Canada, although it may have been in most of our minds. Indeed, there was sometimes a tendency to paint with one brush the United States and Canada.

They are very different countries. Indeed, the whole existence of Canada depended on the resolution and character of the Canadians in refusing to join the 13 revolting Colonies. Secondly, Canada is the only country of the Americas—either North or South—which has wanted to maintain positive links with Europe. She has done that to this time, and in the course of doing so has set the pattern of the Commonwealth which we know to-day. It is Canada who set it by her constant refusal to allow institutional reform to supersede her own independence, and yet she maintained considerable individuality of outlook.

As far back as, I think, the time of Mr. Gladstone she refused to support his action in the Sudan. She said: "No, this is something which he has got into and we are not going into it, too." As we all know, she came immensely into the First World War and into the Second World War. She declined to join Mr. Lloyd George in Chanak. I mention this only to show that this was the form which she very early took, and which has been followed in practice by many other countries. She did it very slowly. She took, I think, ten years to get a High Commissioner in this country, about forty years to form the Royal Canadian Navy and sixty years before sending an Ambassador anywhere at all. We owe her a great deal for the form in which she has led the Commonwealth and which has been followed by others, though I regret to say not at the same easy pace which Canada herself has taken.

May I add one other point? Canadians have taken one quality from this country, and that is self-criticism. We are very self-critical and so are they. I believe they carry it to the point of masochism, which is wholly unnecessary. When you go over there they are constantly telling you of the difficulties they have—of geographical lines which are North and South rather than East and West, of the preponderant power of the United States, of their linguistic problems. I hope that that period in Canadian life is over and that they will realise that they are a great nation playing an immense role in the world to-day, and if they disappeared something would be lost from the comity of nations which would be the loss of us all.

VISCOUNT MONCK

My Lords, may I, for a very particular reason, be allowed to associate myself personally and very warmly with this Motion? The particular reason is that my great-grandfather was Governor of British North America when the Bill referred to in the Resolution was before your Lordships. He became the first Governor-General, a fact of which my family and I and our successors will always be extremely proud. For that reason I asociate myself most warmly with the Motion moved by my noble friend—if I may so call him—Lord Longford, and trust that Canada's future may be even more glorious than her past.

On Question, Motion agreed to, nemine dissentiente.

Ordered, That this Resolution be communicated to the Senate of Canada with the warm greetings of this House.