Mr. Speaker, today I pay tribute to the contribution that the Scottish people have made to the development and life of Canada.
In 1542 a Scot by the name of David Ross was the first to map the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. Following Mr. Ross, the Scots continued to map out the new world.
In my riding of Saint John, New Brunswick, the St. Andrew's Society founded in 1798 is celebrating 200 years of unbroken history in service to the city of Saint John, the province of New Brunswick and the whole of Canada.
Never numbering much over 150 members, these past 200 years the society has provided sixteen mayors, four lieutenant governors of New Brunswick, one lieutenant governor of British Columbia, one premier of New Brunswick, one chief justice of Canada, three senators, as well as national and international leaders in business, law, finance and education.
This is a very proud record. I wish to publicly congratulate the oldest Scottish society of Canada on 200 proud years of heritage and contribution to Canada.