Mr. Speaker, Canada was built by attracting skills, energy and talent from around the world with the promise of boundless opportunity and a quality of life that has no equal. One Canadian life history epitomizes the struggles and successes that are the Canadian dream for so many newcomers.
Vic De Zen, a tool and die maker, arrived in Canada in 1962 with little English, little money and few immediate prospects. Within 10 years he founded Royal Group Technologies, a company employing over 8,000 people that has made Canadians proud at home and abroad.
Vic De Zen has not only contributed to Canadian society. He has reached beyond the borders of his country to show how Canadian ingenuity can raise living standards and environmental conditions for struggling people in developing countries around the world who can now build secure futures from secure homes.
Vic De Zen's belief in Canada has brought this country esteem and gratitude from across the globe.