Mr. Speaker, in 1955, over 11,000 scouts from 71 countries gathered in Niagara-on-the-Lake for the eighth World Scout Jamboree. It was the first major international gathering of scouts outside of Europe. In September we will welcome them back to Niagara for the 50th anniversary of this historic event.
In 1955, the local scout lodge stood on the present site of the Shaw Festival Theatre and Parliament Oak School was turned into a hospital by the Department of National Defence. Seventy-five hundred tents were set up on the commons in the old town. Governor General Vincent Massey opened the festivities and Lady Baden Powell addressed the assembled gathering.
It was a historic gathering that was commemorated by a Canadian stamp to mark the occasion. There was one uninvited guest. Hurricane Connie passed through five days before the event and created major havoc. In typical Canadian fashion, volunteers showed up in great numbers to restore the site, so many, in fact, that some had to be turned away.
Everyone wishes the organizers of this year's special anniversary tremendous success, and no hurricane.