Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to pay tribute to Rotary International
Rotary began 100 years ago today when Paul Harris met with three colleagues to create a professional club that would serve their community. They called it the Rotary Club of Chicago after the early practice of rotating weekly meetings among members' offices.
To say that Harris' idea took off is quite an understatement. Today's celebration will be marked by more than 1.2 million men and women, belonging to more than 31,000 clubs worldwide. What a success story.
My family has experienced the benefits of Rotary firsthand.
My father, Doug, participated in a Rotary group study exchange to India in 1974 and was a member of the Haliburton Rotary for many years, serving as its president in 1982-83.
As for myself, I spent a year of high school in the Netherlands as a Rotary exchange student. For this experience I am profoundly grateful. I have also been a member of the Haliburton club.
To Rotarians in this House and across Canada, I wish them all the best on this celebration of their 100th anniversary.