Mr. Speaker, 25 years ago this week Dr. Tom Bolton discovered the first evidence of black holes while working at the David Dunlap Observatory, University of Toronto, located in Richmond Hill.
A black hole is a collapsed star of such mass and density that nothing can escape from it, not even light. There had long been speculation that black holes existed, but Dr. Bolton produced the first credible evidence.
This is an event of great importance, not only to my riding of Oak Ridges, but also to Canada. We are in the forefront of great scientific discoveries, working with the largest telescope in Canada.
The University of Toronto boasts one of the world's greatest programs in astrophysics and with continued support, not only from the federal government but also from committed private supporters, I am sure we can look forward to maintaining Canada's leading edge discoveries and contributions to international space exploration.
I congratulate Dr. Bolton.