I think it's important that we recognize that this is for all Canadians. It's not about politics here. There is the Conservative government and I represent the Conservative government in the Senate. This is about a Canadian we can celebrate, his accomplishments, and the impacts that he has had on the lives of Canadians and especially our young people.
I believe that going forward as this bill is passed and we celebrate... I have mentioned to a couple of my colleagues that I'd like to have something on the Hill that brings the family here and we can all celebrate it and look at how we can ensure that his contributions are written about and placed into our books and into our libraries across this country, so he's not forgotten. A monument of some sort that Canadians can celebrate in a non-partisan way.
This for me is not about partisanship, it's about us coming together as Canadians and being united around a Canadian who has been transformative, an individual who has touched my life, touched your life, and touched all of the lives of our colleagues around this table. Again, it is a prime example of how we can come together as Canadians irrespective of where we've come from and what our backgrounds are. We've come together to celebrate a man who's brought us together and overcome certain odds in his life. He has also shown us a great example of what you can be in this country given the opportunity, embracing education, our young people... Don't get me started on dropout rates among our at-risk youth across this country. That's why I'm working so hard on a national youth strategy to ensure that we don't miss our marginalized youth across this country. I believe, as I indicated earlier in my statement, they are 100% of our future, they are not just a percentage of our population.