Mr. Speaker, as members of Parliament, we often battle and occasionally agree. As individuals, we often give great speeches and sometimes act with human kindness, but rarely do we act in a selfless fashion.
Rare then was it for a member to reach back over 90 years to a graveyard in England, requesting repatriation of Canadian to a Conservative riding far away from his Toronto constituency. However, that is what the member for York South—Weston did.
The member lobbied hard and got cooperation from all sources so that on November 8, he and I, and the members for Saint John and Fundy Royal, witnessed the reburial of Gladys Winifred Fowler in Hammondvale, New Brunswick.
The daughter of a deceased New Brunswick MP, George Fowler, she died in London in 1917 of a heart ailment. Her father was then serving Canada in the World War I. Her coffin lay unnoticed in a catacomb in London for 92 years until it was discovered by undertaker Barry Smith.
Efforts to repatriate Fowler's remains sparked interest all over Canada and the world. The member for York South—Weston was at the forefront of those efforts.
Bravo to that member, a great comrade, a great parliamentarian and a great Canadian.