Mr. Speaker, I want to add some personal observations of Mr. Lamoureux who passed away last summer.
People have given his biography in the House, that he was elected several times and was Speaker of the House for six years.
I was first elected in 1968 and when I came here Lucien Lamoureux was really revered as the model parliamentarian and the model Speaker that we could all emulate as parliamentarians in this country. He was extremely respected by all members of the House.
He was elected in 1962 and 1965, and I am told when he was made Speaker in 1965 he left the Liberal caucus to sit as an independent member to show the independence of the speakership, which was extremely important in those days. It was really a break in many ways from the tradition in this country.
Another observation that I had of him was the tremendous respect that people had for this man. We have had many good Speakers. We have an excellent Speaker in the House today. But I think Speaker Lamoureux is probably one of the greatest Speakers of all time. In fact former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau said he was the greatest speaker since Confederation. I certainly have tremendous confidence in him and would certainly echo the remarks of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
Speaker Lamoureux also had a tremendous ability. It was the ability to calm this place, an ability to referee or adjudicate this place like none I had ever seen.
I remember the minority parliament in 1972-74. There was a two seat difference between the governing Liberals and the opposition Tories with the NDP holding the balance of power. We also had the Social Credit Party led by Mr. Caouette. Those were days of great tensions and great debates in the House. Mr. Lamoureux had tremendous respect. He was able to keep this place running very efficiently.
It was also a time of tremendous parliamentary giants: Pierre Trudeau, John Diefenbaker who sat right here, Tommy Douglas, David Lewis, Réal Caouette, many parliamentary giants, Stanley Knowles and Allan MacEachen to mention but a few. Mr. Lamoureux was able to rise to the occasion at all times and be a tremendous Speaker.
I had tremendous respect for him. On behalf of our party, I want to extend our sympathy and condolences to his family and to his friends. He has been an inspiration to all of us and has set a tone for all of us to follow, particularly the Speakers of this House.