Mr. Speaker, I too would like to pay tribute to Carlo Rossi on behalf of my colleagues in the New Democratic Party.
I served in the House with Mr. Rossi from 1979 to 1988 and I remember him well. I remember the voice and I remember the lively heckling of which he was capable from time to time between himself and particularly other Quebec MPs of different political persuasions. We all know how lively that can be. Carlo Rossi was particularly good at it. He always had a sort of mischievous twinkling smile on his face whenever he was engaged in that kind of activity.
He is not someone whom I knew well but he is certainly someone whom I served with in the House. I pay tribute to his work as a member of parliament, to his work before he came here as a police officer, to his skill as a negotiator, and to his reputation as someone who was honest and fair and could be relied on in his work with everyone he dealt with.
I make special mention of the fact that as a police officer it was significant in 1987 when he changed his mind with respect to capital punishment. I remember that debate very well. It was a difficult but exciting time for the House of Commons. There was a free vote coming. It was a significant decision that the House was to make. People were under a lot of pressure one way or another, depending on which position they were already holding and depending on who expected them to do what.
Certainly Mr. Rossi was under the kind of pressure all of us were under, but as a police officer he certainly had an effect on the debate when he went from someone who favoured capital punishment to someone who opposed it. I pay tribute to him for that as well.