Mr. Speaker, it is a bright, sunny day in Ottawa and I am sure thousands will be out skating on the Rideau Canal, the world's second longest skating rink. That is right, the second longest, because the longest is in my fair city of Winnipeg.
Thanks to Paul Jordan and a group of dedicated Winnipeggers, thousands of families are now able to lace on the blades and enjoy a skate on an 8.54 kilometre stretch of the Assiniboine and Red Rivers. Last year Ottawa scoffed at Paul's efforts, but Winnipeg has just skated right by it into the record book. And, no, we are not skating in single file.
Maybe it is my Dutch heritage where skating on canals is a way of life, but being in the Guinness book of world records does matter and Winnipeg has just done that with the longest skating rink in the world. The 8.54 kilometres exceed Ottawa's 7.8 kilometre skating rink.
All of us from Winnipeg challenge Ottawa to beat that record or else come to Winnipeg and enjoy a wonderful skate on the longest skating rink in the world.