Thank you, Chair.
I wanted to congratulate you on your bill, Mr. Lizon.
I'm an Anglican. I grew up in the Anglican church. I want to say that on the record. I have no Polish background, so I might as well say that as well.
I think Pope John Paul II was a great leader who no doubt changed the world and certainly changed the face of Europe. The record shows that the U.S.S.R. started to fall apart after Gorbachev declared glasnost and perestroika. He visited Pope John Paul in 1989, and they became friends. Pope John Paul II influenced him, as he influenced the change in Europe. The story you told is beautifully, eloquently poignant about how he changed the thoughts of the Polish people and how he worked with Solidarity. There's a record of correspondence back and forth between President Reagan and John Paul II. They literally worked together to help free the Eastern bloc, to help free Europe. It's an amazing thing to me, and I think it's perfectly appropriate that he be recognized in Canada.
I wanted to mention here as well, in fact, that Gorbachev actually said that the collapse of the Iron Curtain “would have been impossible” without John Paul II.
That's coming from the man who made it happen. A lot of people don't know that President George Bush presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to John Paul II, and the citation actually says, “this son of Poland whose principled stand for peace and freedom has inspired millions and helped to topple communism and tyranny.”
So, what he was able to accomplish is all officially on the record, on a political level, on a secular level as well.
But your story, to me, is an important story of a lot of people who worked to free their own country. I visited Poland recently. Their economy is doing well and they are doing well, and others came to Canada or went to the United States. To me, it's a touching story. I wanted to ask you how those events affected you personally, with particular reference to why you ran for Parliament in Canada.