We Need a New Map – My Farewell Address in Parliament after 18 years
OFFICIAL REPORT (HANSARD)
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Speaker: The Honourable Andrew Scheer
Mr. Speaker, this is an excerpt from Being True to Ourselves, by poet, Sandy Cameron:
“The map we inherited
isn’t any good.
The old roads mislead
and the landscape keeps changing.
People are confused
and drift from place to place,
clothes scorched by fire
eyes red with smoke.
The old map tells us
to look for gold
in the city,
so we go to the city
and find the garbage dump.
We need a new map
with new roads
and a new destination.
Some people fear
a new map, and
they cling to the old one
like flies to fly paper.
I don’t have a new map,
so I write stories.
The stories draw lines
dig holes
and above all, remember…
…“And in this harsh world
draw your breath in pain
to tell my story,” Hamlet
said to Horatio.
“I seem not to speak
the official language,” the poet
Adrianne Rich said, so
she created an unofficial language,
the language of the heart…”
Mr. Speaker, it has been an honour to serve the people of Vancouver East and the NDP for the past 18 years. Thank you.