Mr. Speaker, it is a great honour for me to rise in the House today to celebrate the life, work and contributions of Nancy Riche, the outgoing secretary treasurer of the Canadian Labour Congress.
Nancy Riche has held her current position for over three years and before that was the executive vice-president of the CLC since 1986. Nancy has fought passionately for women's rights, public health care, unemployment insurance, workplace safety, fair trade and social justice. And she never gives up.
As a Newfoundlander through and through she has a comic turn to her phrase which has brought many a house down in laughter. Nancy can chair a meeting better than anyone in the country, present company included. She has a clarity of purpose and a fire in her eye which literally burns through resistance and gets right to the core of the issue, which for Nancy is always equality and fairness for the working people of this country.
The New Democratic Party wishes to salute the efforts of this amazing woman, this fighter for social justice. We wish her good luck in all that she does in what we are sure will be an even more colourful future.