Mr. Speaker, I want to join with the others to say how shocked and saddened we all were when we heard on the news in December of Steve's passing.
Steve was a very different member of Parliament. One thing I remember about Steve was that whenever he was in the chair there always seemed to be a group of people around him chatting, coming and going and passing little stories back and forth. As my hon. friend here has indicated he was always filled with innocent little tidbits about his life.
I remember him telling me after seven elections how he was so successful with his campaign strategy. He said: "You have to spend a lot of time at home, Nelson. You have to get to know people. As an example, when I campaign I simply put a sign up on the highway that says `Steve's ahead'. I just stand on the road and everybody knows who Steve is". He just waved to his constituents as they went to work in the morning or returned at the end of the day.
That is the kind of person he was. Everybody knew who Steve Paproski was when he went into his constituency. In here we all felt very close to Steve Paproski. That was not a function of the fact that he was here for so many years. It was from the kind of person he was. It was his personality.
He loved his family. He loved his wife and his children and they loved him. He had a zest for life. Someone referred to his smile. He always seemed to be a very happy person. He always had a cheery comment to make and he was always willing to greet anyone in a very positive way. I think he was a great motivator for us even during those tense times in the House. When he was in the Chair he always had that comment that would calm everybody down with a little laugh.
We will miss Steve Paproski. Not only will those of us who knew him miss him, but Canada will miss him. He made a great contribution in so many ways. He was a new Canadian, elected seven times, served his country as we have heard in so many different capacities and he served this House and Canada so well.
Our hearts and our prayers go out today to his wife Betty and to his children.