Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Tobique—Mactaquac, potatoes are king. Potato farming, processing and shipping are key to the upper Saint John River Valley economy.
To celebrate this vital industry and those who work in it, the New Brunswick Potato Museum held its first Potato World Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
One of the inductees was a giant in the potato industry and in Canadian business, the late Harrison McCain.
McCain and his brother Wallace launched their potato processing company, McCain Foods, in 1956, building it into the world's largest french fry manufacturer, selling one in three french fries around the globe and employing 20,000 people worldwide.
One of Canada's greatest philanthropists, Mr. McCain was a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1993 he was inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and two weeks ago he was inducted into the Potato World Hall of Fame.
Mr. McCain passed on earlier this year, but through initiatives like the Potato World Hall of Fame his legacy lives on.