Mr. Speaker, I knew Doug Alkenbrack fairly well when he was a member of Parliament. I remember that in 1979 he sat roughly where the Conservative member for Ontario is sitting now, in the second row to your left, Mr. Speaker.
He was known around the House as someone who was a real gentleman as has already been said, as someone who was a very practical person, as someone who was not overly partisan in terms of being a member of Parliament.
Before he came to this House, he was involved in municipal politics. He was involved in his community. He was involved in the lumber business in his home community in northern Ontario.
I remember one of the last days he was in the House. As a matter of fact, we expected the government to fall. It was before the election of 1979. As it happened, I was to have the floor after question period. Doug came to see me during question period to see whether or not he could have the floor instead of me so that he could have a chance to give his farewell speech in the House. Of course I ceded my place to him.
On behalf of our party, I want to extend to his wife, his son, his daughter and his grandchildren, his family, our very sincere condolences on the loss of a great parliamentarian and a real gentleman who was well liked by people in all four corners of this House.