Mr. Speaker, I stand to honour the life and spirit of Suzanne Rochon-Burnett who passed away in my riding of Welland on April 2.
Beautiful throughout her entire life, she was a successful journalist and businessperson, being the first aboriginal woman to own and operate a commercial radio station and the first woman to be inducted into the Canadian Aboriginal Business Hall of Fame.
As a young woman she became the face of the Montreal Royals baseball team, as well as acting in numerous commercials.
She was also a passionate advocate for our first nations people, culture and the arts, with her clarion call being, “My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who will fuel their spirits”.
Over the years, she sat on numerous boards and organizations, including the Canadian Native Foundation for the Arts, TVOntario, the Métis Nation of Ontario, the Canadian Council for the Arts and Brock University.
Suzanne Rochon-Burnett exhibited her gracious spirit in her work and everything she did, from modelling and broadcasting to advocacy, to sharing her wisdom and enormous pride of her Métis heritage and its people.
She was warm and charming, a mother and a grandmother who met all her challenges head on.
Let us honour that great lady by following her example.