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Friends of Rwanda Fundraiser

Remarks by the Hon. David Kilgour, P.C., M.P.

Cité francophone

Edmonton

June 8 2002

Version française

It is a great pleasure to be with you all this evening. Gatherings like this provide us with an opportunity to look beyond the traditional scope of politics and to focus on principles that bind us together as human beings.

To a degree, we are all victims of the catastrophic events of eight years ago.  At least 800,000 innocent lives now rest on our collective conscience.  It is the duty of everyone on this planet to ensure that a similar event does not happen ever again anywhere on earth.

As you know Canada strongly condemned the genocide and has worked with the United Nations and other countries to see justice done.

Along with yourselves and other Rwandans, it was the Canadian General Romeo Dallaire and some brave peacekeepers from Canada and some other nations who faced the horror together.  At incredible personal danger General Dallaire and his command chose not to remove themselves from the scene, but to do everything they could to save and protect many Rwandans from certain death. Their selfless behavior stands as a beacon of how the actions and courage of a handful of good men and women can save many lives.

Much has been achieved, but more remains to be accomplished to ensure that the world that the world sees that those guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity do not go unpunished. At the same time as they pursue justice, Rwanda and its people have continued their healing process. All Canadians support Rwandans in their effort to rebuild their beautiful country.

Desmond Tutu visited Kigagli not long after the events of April –June 1994.  In speaking to a large audience at an outdoor stadium shortly after he arrived, the great man called for forgiveness.  Thereafter, he visited some of the sites of the killings, many of which, as you know, were churches. 

According to one witness who was there, Tutu was so appalled at what he observed that he changed his view: justice for at least some of the perpetrators, and then forgiveness. In one of his books, No Future Without Forgiveness, Tutu deals with the past and does not forget, but allows individuals and communities to achieve reconciliation through forgiveness.

In 1998, I had the opportunity to visit Rwanda; while there I had the chance to visit a project partially funded by Canada’s International Development Agency.  Under this project, women left widowed by the genocide worked to build doors, windows, and other housing materials. At first glance, I was struck only by the tragedy that left these women widowed. After meeting women on the project, however, something else struck me, and gave cause for hope. They came from all backgrounds - Hutu, Tutsi and Batwa.  Despite the inter-ethnic violence of the past, these women were working together to build a new sense of community that cut across ethnic lines.

I tell you this because if they are doing that in Rwanda now, just imagine what we can do here. We live in a country of abundant opportunity and resources.   By working together so much can be accomplished by the Rwandan community in Edmonton.

The tireless efforts and commitment of the Rwandan Women’s Association must be applauded. The work they have started here shows what a community can do to make a difference. This association is working with the community to let others know about Rwanda and its history, while bringing the Rwandan community of Edmonton together. This association is showing the community that it is not a matter of just forgiving and forgetting what happened in 1994; instead The Rwandan Women’s Association wants the community to forgive each other and work together to help the children and people of Rwanda rebuild their lives, and always remember that there is “no future without forgiveness.”

Indeed, tonight is undoubtedly the start of something wonderful. All of you are here supporting the Rwandan Women’s Association and indirectly the people of Rwanda generally. Congratulations.

Thank you for your generosity, and I will end by invoking a Swahili proverb, which says:

“Giving is a matter of the heart, not a matter of wealth.”