Mr. Speaker, I rise today to inform the House that the Elliot Lake Centre in my riding of Algoma—Manitoulin will be renamed Lester B. Pearson Centre at a special ceremony this Saturday, October 24.
This honour reflects the many achievements of a former member of the House, a diplomat, prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. It coincides with the 50th anniversary of Mike Pearson's first election as member of parliament for Algoma East, a riding which he served admirably for 20 years from 1948 to 1968.
The Elliot Lake Centre was established as a centre of excellence in education and the performing arts in February 1965 with the encouragement and support of Lester B. Pearson. In the years since the founding of the centre, the city of Elliot Lake has been transformed from a one industry mining town to a community with a more diversified economy.
The Elliot Lake Centre has evolved as well and is at the forefront of the redevelopment of the city as it approaches the new millennium. The centre has been instrumental in the development—