Mr. Speaker, last weekend, I attended the annual Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour award presentation near the city of Orillia in my riding.
Each year, the Stephen Leacock Association announces the winner of the Leacock medal for the most humorous book published in Canada in the previous year. Since 1946, it has been granting this award to such literary icons as Pierre Berton, W.O. Mitchell, Farley Mowat and Mordecai Richler. This year, the associates have awarded the medal and its $15,000 prize, courtesy of TD Financial Group, to Vancouver-based author and filmmaker Mark Leiren-Young for his book Never Shoot a Stampede Queen: A Rookie Reporter in the Cariboo Country.
I invite all members to join me in congratulating Mr. Leiren-Young for winning this highly coveted award and the Stephen Leacock Association for its steadfast promotion of Canadian literature.