Mr. Speaker, on May 15 of this year Walter Dufek, a resident of Etobicoke, Ontario, passed away after a valiant fight with cancer. Mr. Dufek was a fighter in every sense of the word, having fought against the Nazis in World War II and after the war against communist control of Czechoslovakia.
His efforts were recognized in many ways. He received the Polish Gold Cross of Merit; a letter of special award from the Unity of Canada; and he was recognized by Friends of the Simon Wiesenthal Centre for Holocaust Studies.
In his final months he was deeply concerned that the freedom we enjoy in Canada, the country he immigrated to in 1951, must be guarded and not taken for granted.
Mr. Dufek said we must be alert, even in a democracy, of coercive governments that use the tyranny of taxation and the liberalization of the criminal just system to give too many rights to criminals while ignoring the victims.
In memory of Colonel Walter Dufek, a true patriot, an outstanding Canadian.