Mr. Speaker, I am honoured, humbled and saddened to pay tribute to Chester MacRae. He was a friend of my father's although I did not meet him until I was going door to door during the 1993 election campaign. He brought the futility of my exercise to my attention.
Being the wonderful gentleman that he was, after the election he came to visit me. We spent a wonderful afternoon discussing the difference between being a member of Parliament in 1993 and being a member of Parliament in the late fifties and early sixties. He spoke of travelling to Ottawa on the train and being away from home so much of the time. It was remarkable for me as a brand new member who had not yet been to Ottawa to have that kind of discussion.
I had the good fortune two years later on Remembrance Day as a member of Parliament to lay wreathes on behalf of the government in our communities, often in many places at the same time. I asked Chester to represent the Government of Canada and to lay the wreath in Fredericton. This was the last Remembrance Day before the onset of his illness.
During the campaign I had the opportunity to drop in and visit Chester at the DVA in Fredericton. He was very alert. He advised me that my success in 1993 was surely a fluke. I will remember him fondly for the rest of my life.
The people of the community of Fredericton know what a contribution Chester MacRae made in war, in peace, as an educator. They remember what he did for the Legion, for veterans and for his community. He will be missed. All his family and his friends in Fredericton have our condolences.