Mr. Speaker, the people of British Columbia lost one of our most honourable and loyal public servants last year, Stan Hagen.
The sudden passing of Stan, a 12 year member of the legislative assembly in B.C. and cabinet minister, is a great loss to his friends, his family, his colleagues and his constituents in the Comox Valley and the many British Columbians he served over the years.
I sat right beside Stan in the B.C. legislature for four years and we worked closely on many shared objectives. I rarely saw him lose his cool or his sense of humour.
One legacy he was particularly proud of, the central coast land-use agreement, will enrich the lives of aboriginal and non-aboriginal British Columbians alike for generations with its one million hectares of new parks and protected areas.
Stan was a wonderfully warm and caring human being. I would like to offer condolences to Judy, Stan's wife, and to the rest of his family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers are with them.