Mr. Speaker, I would like to make a few comments on behalf of the Reform Party of Canada. I extend our sincere condolences to George Hees' daughters, his grandchildren, his great grandchild and to the many friends I am sure he has built up over the generations.
George's service to his country was automatic, whether it was serving the country during World War II or whether it was serving in the House as he did for nearly four decades.
George Hees was first elected in a 1950 byelection and won every election from then on until his retirement in 1988 with the exception of the 1963 election. Imagine running and winning every single time. That is an amazing legacy in itself.
He served in the cabinets of John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney. He proved to be a very capable and effective minister and administrator.
In 1988, after his retirement, he was named Prime Minister Mulroney's personal advisor and ambassador at large, overseeing
the transportation, storage and distribution of Canada's food aid programs in the third world.
Although he was offered a Senate appointment several times, he always declined. That is something which is very remarkable. Even though he was offered a no-cut contract, he always declined because he thought there were other things he could be doing.
Mr. Hees was popular and respected by members of all political parties. When he retired from the House he said that serving in the House of Commons is the finest profession any Canadian could have because of the association with MPs from all parties and that everyone is here because they are trying to do a job for the people of Canada. That is really noble. It is certainly the reason we are all here.
I am very fortunate in that one of my staff members worked for George Hees for some time. When he retired in 1988 I was able to hire her when I first came here in 1989. I spoke with her on the phone this morning for a short while: "Jenny, what do you remember about George Hees?" She said: "He was sure good to work for". A personal testimonial like that is worth a million dollars. She said he was charming and that everybody knew him as George. If he was on the street in Northumberland in his home area people would walk up to him and say: "Hi, George. How are you?" He was theirs. They did not address him very formally because he was just one of them. They appreciated him as George.
He retired in 1988 but left an amazing legacy, serving as a senior minister. One thing I was really impressed with was that he was very frugal. He did not think it was appropriate to just ring up taxpayer dollars for all kinds of things.
One example is that when he moved into one office the carpet was fairly well worn. He said: "We do not have the money right now to replace this carpet". So there it stayed. It got older and more and more frayed. Finally when the day came to replace the carpet and the workers came to clear the old carpet out, they thought it should go to the museum because it looked that old and would be a great piece for the museum.
That philosophy of serving people was the essence of George Hees. He never forgot why he was here and what he was fighting for. Although he is no longer with us, I am sure his legacy will live on in the House and in minds and hearts of the Canadian people.
On behalf of the Reform Party, we send our condolences to his family and say a personal thank you, George, for all you did for us.