Mr. Speaker, a great Canadian and one of my personal heroes recently turned 60 years young the other day.
But Bobby Orr does not look a day over 40. The brush cut is gone and so are the knees, but he has had them replaced. Otherwise, he is still that crazy defenceman from Parry Sound, who should have been a power forward.
Bobby Orr was probably the greatest natural hockey player of all time. Trained on backyard ice and tempered by long, cold Canadian winters, he knew the game like an Arctic wolf knows its prey. Fearless, fast and deft, he was a relentless hunter, puck in net no matter what.
Life after hockey has shown him to be a great Canadian in other ways. In 2005 he supported the Royal Oaks Golf and Country Club's tournament to raise money for breast cancer research in my own riding of Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe. That event generated $100,000. His support of cancer research at L’Hôpital régional Dr-Georges-L.-Dumont in greater Moncton has been generous and ongoing.
Bobby Orr earns the gratitude of all Canadians for his work both on and off the ice. He is truly a great Canadian.