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Canadian Alliance Member of Parliament Rob Anders, who last week blocked moves to grant honorary Canadian citizenship to Nelson Mandela by voting against the motion and calling the South African leader a communist and a terrorist, stayed away from the House of Commons on June 12 when the motion was moved for a second time by ruling Liberal Party MP John McCallum.
During the debate, McCallum said: "The more one learns about Nelson Mandela, the more one realizes that one is not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under his table."
He joked about Anders' absence from the House suggesting that the Alliance caucus may have detained him.
Only 29 out of the 301 parliamentarians were present in the House during the debate.
Canadian parliamentarians were relieved when the motion was adopted as its defeat last week because of a single dissenter had caused the Canadian government a great deal of embarrassment.
Indo-Canadian law maker Deepak Obhrai offered the olive branch on behalf of the Canadian Alliance and delivered a tribute to Mandela. He dismissed questions about party colleague Anders' views saying, "It was Anders' personal view, not the party's."
Obhrai said he was born in Tanzania 'and am no stranger to life in a society where there are racial strains and tensions. Thankfully, we are free to debate the granting of honorary Canadian citizenship to one of the greatest figures in recent history in a chamber where there are no racial strains or tensions' while supporting the motion.
His only suggestion was that proposals to grant honorary citizenship or other honors should be transparent and not be introduced in the House without prior consultation or notice.
"If we are going to honor our world's heroes, let us do it in the sunshine so all Canadians can share in the tribute," Obhrai suggested during his speech in the House.
Some South African diplomats and the Speaker of the South African National Assembly were present in the public gallery when the motion was discussed in the House.
The motion will now be placed before the Senate.
If it is approved, Mandela is expected to accept the honorary citizenship when he visits Canada in September on what is slated to be his last overseas visit.
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