Thank you very much, Chair.
And thank you, Senator, for this initiative, which is most appropriate and thank you for the eloquent case you made for the reasons you introduced it, which I found genuinely touching.
I did know Lincoln Alexander. We met a number of times throughout my life. I just wanted to tell you a little bit about that because I think it might be helpful.
I met him in his role as lieutenant-governor. He was a truly dignified person and a man of generous spirit. He smiled a lot. I can still feel his warm, dry hand in mine and remember his big smile. He really engaged you. He would treat a prime minister and a child the same. He would lean down and talk to them with the same big smile and the same manner of respect. Everybody he met liked him and enjoyed meeting him and remembered him. It was really a little bit of greatness in this nice man. I can see why he was asked to take on increasingly important roles and he provided this wonderful service as a role model to our young people.
I sat beside him on stage once at Guelph University for a convocation. I was parliamentary assistant in charge of colleges and universities and the president asked me. The students came across the stage and he took time to speak to every one of them quietly, privately, and he didn't say the same thing to everyone. You would think that after 10 or 20 times you'd say the same thing, good luck. Everyone was different. He had a little conversation with them to make them feel important. I will never forget that as well. He was a modest man and he would chat with royalty, the Queen, graciously, just as he would with a school child or a cab driver.
I really thank you for bringing this forward. As I say, it's most appropriate to show this kind of respect for Linc Alexander who was liked by everybody he met. They had affection and respect for him. This is a great way to make him better known to Canadians and to get especially our young children and minorities to see that this guy did all this; he is an ordinary guy from Hamilton who did great things with his education.