Mr. Speaker, yesterday I was seeking to make the point that a publication of the House, admittedly in conjunction with the National Archives of Canada, contained a substantial error in that it failed to mention in the list of constituencies for Canada's first Prime Minister the fact that he was the member for Kingston.
I raise this point in some seriousness. I know it was treated with a bit of merriment yesterday afternoon. This particular Prime Minister was identified closely with the Kingston community. He represented Kingston in either the legislature or in this House from 1844 until 1891, with the exception of a nine-year break between 1878 and 1887 when he represented other constituencies in this House.
He was substantially raised in Kingston. He practised law in Kingston from the age of 19 in the 1830s until 1873. For over 40 years he practised law in Kingston. As I have indicated, he represented that community for a very long time and made a very substantial contribution there. He was buried in Kingston and there are countless statues and monuments to him in Kingston.
To have Kingston omitted from the list of his constituencies is really a shocking omission. With the greatest respect, of all the Prime Ministers in the book he probably had a closer connection with his community and is known to have had that connection with his community of Kingston than all the other prime ministers had with their communities.
My point is that this book ought to be repaired and replaced. It is frankly misleading, particularly to students who I am sure are going to be the principal users of this book. I see that it has a foreword with Your Honour's name on it, it does not have a signature, and another by the national archivist.
From the point of view of accuracy, I think it would be very wise to have the book reprinted. It is an excellent book and a fine publication. It is wrong in this particular. It is a serious enough error that it ought to be corrected.