Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a tear in my eye, as there are many tears in the eyes of our colleagues in the House of Commons. We have lost a wonderful, wonderful Canadian today. I look over and see the flowers that are in her seat and on her desk.
Shaughnessy had a sense of humour. When I was here in 1993 there were just two in my party at that time. I sat up in the corner and she used to encourage me to stay. She would joke with me when I was on the elevator with her. Her friend Mary Clancy did the same.
I want to say to her husband, to her daughter and to her family, thank you for sharing her with us. Tremendous sacrifices are made by families, and people across this country do not realize that.
She loved justice. She had a friend in my colleague here, Peter. They would joke back and forth. One day she ran over and asked “Where do you buy your sweaters, Elsie? I want a sweater just like yours”. A couple of weeks ago she came in with a sweater and asked “Is it as nice as yours, Elsie?” I said “I'm not quite sure, darlin'; it's on a Liberal”.
Yes, I have to say that she was partisan, but she was a wonderful person. We were fortunate to have her here. She loved justice. She just loved being the chair of that committee. She loved all of us here in this House of Commons. It is truly a great loss for the people of Windsor, but it is also a great loss for us because she was different. She was different from some of us who are here today.
On behalf of all of my colleagues, I say to her husband, daughter and family, thank you very much for sharing her with us. You are in our prayers and she is in our prayers. You will continue to be in our prayers from here on out. On behalf of my colleagues, our condolences to all of you. Thank you for sharing Shaughnessy with us.