Mr. Speaker, my New Democrat colleagues and I stand together and stand tall with our parliamentary leader in congratulating and welcoming our new leader, Jack Layton.
At our historic convention this weekend, 44,000 New Democrats took part in selecting our new leader. We invite Canadians to join us in rallying behind Jack's vision for hope, a vision that includes implementing Kyoto, adopting Romanow's health reform blueprint and saying an unequivocal no to war in Iraq.
As the U.S. continues to beat the drums of war, Canadians watch our government seesawing back and forth. The defence minister says, “Yes, Mr. Bush, Canadians will obey”. The foreign affairs minister says, “No, Mr. Bush, at least not today”. Our Prime Minister as usual says both at the same time.
In the words of Pierre Ducasse, “To attain the results you've never had, you have to do what you've never done”. And that is what we are going to do.
Welcome aboard, Jack.