Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my colleague, the hon. member for Sherbrooke and the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, I would like to extend our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the family of the Hon. James Bourque.
Unfortunately I did not have the privilege to know Mr. Bourque personally but from listening to the hon. member for Western Arctic that is definitely my loss.
When I sat on the Citizen's Forum on Canada's Future representing Atlantic Canada I had the opportunity to travel the country and meet many of our aboriginal people. They are beautiful and we owe them a great deal.
Mr. Bourque was a well respected man. He served as president of the Northwest Territories Metis Nations from 1980 to 1982. His commitment to and leadership of the aboriginal community was a driving force which will be missed by all those who had the opportunity to work with him.
Mr. Bourque has left behind a distinguished record of public service. He was named co-director of the policy for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples in 1994 and was appointed to the Privy Council in July 1992 by the Progressive Conservative government. Mr. Bourque served this country well and his record stands as a shining example for us all.
I would like to extend the sincere condolences of the Progressive Conservative Party to Mr. Bourque's family, his wife Sharleen, his three children, Arthur, Valerie and Edwin, and his grandchildren. His loss will be deeply felt by all Canadians.