Mr. Speaker, I would like to join with my colleagues in the House of Commons in paying tribute to Lorne.
I had the honour of serving with him from 1984 to 1988, so I got to know him a little, at least during one term. He had been elected in 1979.
I remember that even before his election he was known as an excellent administrator. He joined the team of Joe Clark, whom he greatly admired. He did an outstanding job of representing the new riding of Prince George—Bulkley Valley. In fact, he was the first member to represent this riding.
During the term when we served together I had the opportunity to work with him on the famous northern pipeline issue on various standing committees such as veterans affairs, consumer and corporate affairs as well as Indian affairs, because his was a very large riding where a number of first nations were established.
He used to say his sole purpose was to serve the people of his riding. That was more than a mission; it was a passion. He did not have national ambitions as he told us repeatedly. His sole ambition was to serve his constituents well. In that sense he had a rather unorthodox approach to the duties of an MP.
He could, for instance, spend one week in the House of Commons and the next in his riding, not at his office but visiting every village, community and organization to get a feel for what people thought, and this for months on end.
He liked to say “There are no government offices in my riding. I am the office for all the departments, by bringing services to my constituents”. He was passionately fond of meeting the people of his riding. He was, moreover, always elected by a heavy majority because people saw him as one of them. They recognized him as a tireless worker.
He was a fervent supporter of Joe Clark. At this very moment I bet he is sending Mr. Clark signals from the other side about a comeback. He was disappointed to see his leader leave but remained faithful to his party. He stayed for the 1984 election because he dreamed of being a government MP for at least one mandate, and he knew that the Conservatives had a good chance of forming the government in 1984.
He leaves his four children and their children to mourn his passing. I would like them to know just how proud they should be of him and how much he taught all MPs about loving our work, doing a good job of it and serving the public before anything else.
I am grateful for his great contribution to democracy and thank him for it. My sincere condolences to all his friends, his entire family, and the members of his party.