It is indeed true, Pierre Elliott Trudeau is dead. He was a man of passion and compassion, and it is on your behalf, members of this House of Commons, that I offer my condolences to his family.
Those of us who had the honour of standing either shoulder to shoulder with him or behind him in his back benches, and those of us who had the misfortune on some days to stand in front of him as adversaries, we all have our own particular snapshots of Mr. Trudeau and what he meant to us personally. Witness what has been said by the five party leaders today.
It is not for us at this point to make great judgments about our colleague, and I address myself now to you, my colleagues and fellow parliamentarians. Remember on the difficult days when you sit in this Chamber that you did have a colleague, a comrade-in-arms, who went through the same ups and downs as you do now. We are the political gladiators of the day and we have lost a comrade-in-arms.
To our fellow Canadians across the land, we as Canadians have lost a brother, a very dear brother.
We grieve with the family of Mr. Trudeau, but you see, we were all part of his family. We are the Canadian family and he stood with us in the times when we needed his leadership most.
For you my colleagues who are here, for you in the galleries, for all Canadians watching, I ask you now to stand for one minute of silence to remember Pierre Elliott Trudeau.