Mr. Speaker, tomorrow marks Greece's Independence Day. March 25, 1821 marked the start of the final lap in a long struggle against the Ottoman Empire, which led, a few months later, to the proclamation of independence in Epidaurus in January 1822.
Many people from this community now live here in Canada, and I would like to use this anniversary to briefly recall the debt we owe to the Greeks.
From Socrates to Plato, from Pythagoras to Hippocrates without forgetting Archimedes and Pericles, the Greek civilization has had such an influence on the evolution of thought that we still speak today of the Greek miracle. The Greeks provided the two pillars of modern world: science and democracy.
We offer our best wishes to all Greeks and all those who are Greek at heart on Greece's national day.