Mr. Speaker, there are but two or three minutes left.
I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate the hon. member for Cambridge.
A few years ago, I introduced in this House a motion to have a statue of the Right Hon. Lester B. Pearson erected on Parliament Hill. I had the privilege of choosing the spot where the memorial to this great Canadian would stand.
I wanted to take a few minutes to tell the House how much I like and support the motion in front of the House today. I would also like to tell Canadian men and women that, like many of them, I consider Lester B. Pearson to be the greatest Prime Minister this country ever had, even though some might not think so.
I always appreciated his sense of humility. If he were here today, he would probably blush and he would certainly be embarrassed by such a motion, he who never accepted that something be named after him or that a statue be erected in his honour. His grave, in the Ottawa area-in Quebec, in fact, as several members opposite know-is very simple. That is the way he lived.
His humility might be reason why we now see him as a great statesman. This is also the reason why the hon. member for Cambridge wanted to recognize Lester B. Pearson.
I agree with his statement. I would have liked Parliament to send this document to a parliamentary committee for further review. Anyway, I will use the few seconds I have left to congratulate the member for Cambridge for recognizing in Lester B. Pearson a great Canadian political figure, a statesman, the father of the flag which stands besides your chair, Mr. Speaker, and the originator of Canadian diplomacy. I want to join the member in telling Canadians how important it is to take steps to honour great Canadians such as Lester B. Pearson.