Mr. Speaker, I rise today with tears in my eyes and a heavy heart, as I am sure many of our colleagues in the House also do today, for 10 years ago Canada was changed. We in this country have always been blessed with the ability to say that we live in a nation better than all others.
Ten years ago one man armed with his hatred forced us to view a darker version of ourselves, a Canada no different than the foreign societies we fear. He did this by taking from us the lives of 14 young beautiful women in their prime from our own backyard. It defined us as a country that no longer has to look outside its borders to find an example of malicious and senseless violence.
It changed us as a people. We could no longer say that horrors such as these did not happen in our Canada. Although I did not know these brave little souls, I came to know of their innocence and their courage. We as a country came to know them to be no different from our daughters, our sisters, our neighbours and our friends.
We remember them not only as the only victims of violence against women, but as those whose story was so tragic that it forced the nation to turn its attention to the violent cruelty faced by women across the land at the hands of others.
It is not enough to merely remember these brave women and mourn their loss, without taking the steps necessary to ensure that a horror of this kind does not take place again.
Today across the country the spirit of these young women will serve as a call to action. Whether from Saint John, Saskatoon, Medicine Hat or Montreal, Canadians will stand together and condemn violence against women. They will gather to pray and to comfort. They will gather to harness strength and initiative. They will acknowledge the good that has been done in the name of those slain and focus on the challenges that lie before us.
On behalf of the Right Hon. Joe Clark, our leader of the PC Party of Canada, and all of our colleagues in the House, we wish to convey our deepest, heartfelt sympathies, unchanged by the passage of time to the families and loved ones of the 14 women. They will, as will their families, remain in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers always, en souvenir de leurs vies.