Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to pay tribute to Paul Tardif, a former member of this House, who died in August at the age of 90.
He sat in this place from 1959 to 1968. Born in 1908, Mr. Tardif was a Quebecker born and bred, his father hailing from Kamouraska in the Lower St. Lawrence region.
Mr. Tardif always liked politics and worked hard to defend the public's interests. At the tender age of 29, he was elected a school board trustee, a position he held from 1937 to 1943. He also served as alderman for Ottawa's Victoria ward from 1942 to 1948, in addition to holding the position of controller in that city from 1949 to 1959.
It was during this period that Mr. Tardif frequently crossed swords with the well-known Charlotte Whitton, former mayor of Ottawa.
With his school board and municipal experience, he decided to go into federal politics. He entered the House of Commons on October 5, 1959, having won a by-election in Russell as a Liberal.
He was re-elected in the general elections of 1962, 1963 and 1965. He therefore served in the government of the Right Hon. Lester B. Pearson.
On June 22, 1967, he was appointed assistant deputy chairman of the House of Commons Committees of the Whole, having distinguished himself by his initiative, energy and integrity. In 1968, he left federal politics and was made a citizenship judge, a position he held until his retirement in 1978.
Throughout his political career, Mr. Tardif was known as someone who listened to what the public had to say and was very much in touch with the grassroots. He was deeply attached to his community.
On behalf of my colleagues in the Bloc Quebecois, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to his friends and family.