Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased and honoured to rise today to pay tribute to Lawrence O'Brien, the hon. member for Labrador.
First of all, Lawrence O'Brien had all the qualities required of a great humanist as well as a very great member of Parliament. When I say humanist, I think that everyone agrees that he was very pleasant to work with. He also had remarkable interpersonal skills. He made friends easily with everyone, not only within his party but also in other parties.
I had the great privilege of happening upon him during the 1997 election campaign. I was responsible for aboriginal issues at the time, if memory serves, and was touring Labrador. I think I had gone to Nain, an Innu community in Labrador.
It was incredible. There was this gentleman who was not yet a member of Parliament—but would become one—and already the Innu had very great admiration for this man. It was clear from his record that he had always defended minorities and always paid special attention to people in a tough spot.
So, in my opinion, Mr. O'Brien was a great MP and a great humanist. He was also a good listener. I often saw him meet with aboriginals and listen attentively to them. He had another quality too, which was his outspokenness. Once he had listened and understood what people were telling him, he was not afraid to speak his mind and then take action. That was Lawrence O'Brien with his great qualities as a humanist.
He was close to people too. I think I mentioned this to some extent. I talked about my relationship with him on the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Development and Natural Resources but he was interested in National Defence too. He was an ardent defender of the military base in Labrador. He was devoted to the Liberal Party, naturally, but especially to people and to his constituents. No one can take that away from him. I think that he had the recipe for how to get as close as possible to his constituents.
Now, he was also a remarkable parliamentarian. He was extremely courageous and, as I mentioned earlier, extremely loyal. It takes a lot of courage and loyalty to leave the hospital and come vote in the House of Commons, accompanied by a nurse, when he was in terminal stage. I am happy to hear today that the Prime Minister had advised him not to come. However, his actions are proof of his extraordinary courage.
In closing, I want to say that we will all miss Lawrence. Lawrence, we will miss you.