Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have the opportunity to pay tribute to the hon. member for Yukon. This distinguished and elegant member of Parliament was the leader of her party and the first woman to
head a national party. For this, I offer her both praise and congratulations.
I have had an opportunity to visit the Yukon and been impressed by the work Ms. McLaughlin has accomplished there. The Yukon is no easy place to visit. It is no easy place to serve. It is immense and surely as far away as you can get in Canada from the capital. For this I raise my hat to one who, probably, for many weekends has gone home to visit her constituents and returned to work every week.
I have found Ms. McLaughlin to be affable, friendly, distinguished and elegant. She always had time to chat, regardless of one's political affiliation. She invariably had a smile and a kind word to say. We will miss her. She served her party with enthusiasm. She knew her subject matter. She spoke well in the House, in both official languages.
I have always appreciated the fact that she recognized Canada's two main groups and wanted to represent everybody all the time, always with a view to improving quality of life. I am pleased to have sat in the House with her as a colleague since 1988 and I will remember her as an extraordinary individual. My congratulations, Ms. McLaughlin.