Mr. Speaker, I in turn would like to join my colleagues who have just spoken in paying tribute to Alistair Fraser, who, as has been pointed out in the last few minutes, was Clerk of the House of Commons from 1967 to 1979.
Although many of us here today did not have the good fortune to meet and get to know Mr. Fraser, he served the Canadian public and this venerable institution in which we sit for many years, and his memory will not soon disappear from its hallowed walls. He first came to the House in 1951 as an assistant to the then fisheries minister, the Hon. James Sinclair, moving on to take up the position of Clerk Assistant, as the Government House Leader pointed out, and then Clerk.
On September 1 of this year, he passed away, leaving us all saddened. A lawyer by training, Mr. Fraser came from a Liberal family of long standing in his province of birth. His father and his grandfather were lieutenant-governors of Nova Scotia and his grandfather was even a member of Parliament.
It was through his efforts and those of the present Clerk of the House of Commons that the Parliamentary Internship Programme was set up, providing an opportunity for numerous Canadians and Quebecers to work in this place for the representatives of the public, to achieve a better knowledge and understanding of this universally admired democratic institution, and to pass that knowledge and understanding on to others.
On behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I would like to express deepest condolences to his family and friends and, as I said at the beginning of my speech, to assure them that his memory will remain very much alive in this House for many years to come, because the volume to which he contributed is something we consult on a daily basis. He left his stamp on two editions of Beauchesne, which is something of a bible in the work of the House.
Once again, on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I offer heartfelt condolences to his family and friends.