Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleagues who spoke this evening. They all spoke eloquently and I appreciate that they spoke in favour of this private member's bill.
I would like to use my concluding few moments to thank, as I thank all the members of this House, the veterans affairs committee for its support. It took its responsibilities seriously when Bill C-287 was on its agenda. We had a good discussion and some very helpful changes were made. I appreciate that.
I also want to thank the member for Thunder Bay—Rainy River who was the seconder at third reading.
I want to underline that this is another way to say that we support our troops. It is a way of saying that Canada's role in the world, while not easy in terms of its military presence, is not easy to define. If we start from the premise that we are at our core peacemakers and peacekeepers, and however we define what a peacekeeper is, if we start out from that philosophical premise, from that spirit, then we will ultimately do the right thing.
I wish to pay homage to the veterans in my own riding and the ridings of all of my colleagues, and especially aboriginal veterans who have often been unsung heroes in Canadian military history. I just want to remind the House that our job is to represent everyone, not just those who voted for us, but between elections everyone in our ridings. We have people on all sides of the spectrum. If there is one thing we can agree on, it is that as our country moves forward and as our quality of life improves, it is incumbent upon us to do what we can to share our values, our wealth and our vision.
Through our peacekeeping efforts, whether they are through the military or whether they are through our NGO communities, our police forces, our diplomatic corps, in all ways we are serving our children and our grandchildren, indeed the future generations who will depend upon how we conduct our business at this point in the history of the country.
I look forward to a successful vote in the near future.