Mr. Speaker, we were saddened to hear of the recent death of Mr. Ying Hope.
A Canadian of Chinese descent and the son of a tailor in Victoria, one of eight children, Ying Hope was a trailblazer. He was the first Canadian of Chinese descent to be elected to the Toronto school board and to Toronto City Council. An engineer who once worked on the Avro Arrow, Ying Hope was elected to the school board in 1964 and was made chair in 1967. He won a seat on Toronto City Council in 1969.
He mentored many young citizens, such as myself, and I had the privilege to work with him on election campaigns while a student at the University of Toronto.
He also led a determined effort to seek justice for the head tax once imposed on Chinese immigrants and for laws that excluded them from full citizenship. Last year these efforts by him and others were answered when the Prime Minister offered a full apology for this exclusion and mistreatment.
On behalf of the Government of Canada, I would like to extend my condolences to Mr. Hope's family. Ying Hope was a great Canadian. Canada has lost a great citizen.