Madam Speaker, on behalf of the NDP caucus I would like to join my colleagues in the House of Commons who have already spoken in paying tribute to Mr. Frank McGee and honouring his memory, the work he did in this place for his community and in other positions as well.
I particularly want to recognize the historic work that we know he did in respect of the abolition of capital punishment. It was work which he began and others finished in the 1970s. There was a movement to overturn this work in the late 1980s but it was not overturned. We still have a country in which we do not have the spectacle of capital punishment. That fact is a lasting tribute to the work of Mr. Frank McGee.
I also recognize the historic work that he did with others in seeking to change the divorce laws of Canada which were quite archaic at the time he entered parliament. We know that he collaborated with others at that time in exposing just how archaic they were and in bringing about changes.
Much biographical detail has been put on the record by others. I do not see any point in repeating it. On behalf of the NDP I join with other colleagues in extending our sincere condolences to the family of Mr. Frank McGee and our own appreciation for his life and work in this place and in his community.