Mr. Speaker, today we have the opportunity to honour the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who perform peacekeeping roles professionally and courageously so far away from home.
It is fitting that our soldiers have earned eight Nobel peace prizes through their participation in 26 United Nations missions. Every day Canadian peacekeepers earn the respect of the world, but still the awareness of Canadians at home is low.
With this in mind, Mrs. Jocelyn Fleurant of British Columbia, a courageous mother of one of our peacekeepers, launched the blue ribbon campaign.
Mrs. Fleurant has distributed 44,000 blue ribbons for this special day. In a letter she writes: "We should all stand up and be proud and unite our voices to give Canadian peacekeepers the recognition they deserve".
I call on every member of this House to honour these Canadians who serve us so well. Wear your blue ribbon today, show them we care and wear it with pride.