Mr. Speaker, I want to commend my colleague from Fort McMurray—Athabasca for bringing forward this work as we wind down the work in this House before the summer recess.
I have some comments tangentially related to this debate on Bill C-64, An Act to amend the Pilotage Act. The member has brought forward an important piece of work.
What we do here as members of Parliament is very important. What we are doing here today as we wind down for the summer break reminds me of the work that another distinguished Canadian did some 50 years ago in this place, somebody who represented the Great Lakes port of Hamilton. I am sure that had she been here today she would have been very proud.
Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Diefenbaker government and the day the first woman was appointed a federal cabinet minister, and that woman was the Right Hon. Ellen Louks Fairclough.
I had the honour of meeting Madam Fairclough just a few years ago. She lived out her days in Dundas, Ontario. This remarkable woman served as minister of citizenship and immigration, and was postmaster general. She passed away in 2004 at the old age of 99 years. She demonstrated an interest in a wide variety of subjects, sort of like the subjects we are debating today: housing, income tax, employment insurance and the status of women. She introduced bills for equal pay for equal work of equal value. She was a member of Parliament for Hamilton West over four elections and one byelection.
I believe she was a role model for all of us, including the member for Fort McMurray—Athabasca, who is conducting the work of this government even in the last day before the summer recess. I commend him for his work on this issue. I am sure had Madam Fairclough been here today, this remarkable woman would have been an avid participant in this debate and would have been very supportive of the work that we are undertaking.