Mr. Speaker, as Remembrance Day approaches I would like to pay tribute to my Canadian hero. My late father served in the Argyle and Southern Highlanders in the second world war.
He landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944, only to have his landing craft blown up and he woke up in a British hospital. He returned for the Battle of the Falaise Gap, Caen, and the liberation of Holland. He returned from the war with shrapnel badly lodged in his legs and the loss of hearing in one ear.
Yet he said he would have done it all over again in the defence of freedom and to ensure that Canadians would have a better life. He instilled in me a love of my country, and an appreciation for the valour and sacrifice that so many made and are continuing to make for Canada. I will never forget.