Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness and pride that I rise today to honour and remember a courageous Métis woman of Cree descent who passed away on Monday night in the veterans wing of Saskatoon's Sherbrooke Community Centre.
Marguerite MacDonald was my grandmother. She was a female veteran of the second world war. She was no ordinary woman. Her mother died when she was only 12 years old. Her life's struggles were sometimes painful, but she always had a desire to serve her people and her country from a young age.
So strong was this need to protect others that she falsified her date of birth and joined the Canadian armed forces in January 1942 at the tender age of 17 years. She and many other Canadian women just like her chose to serve alongside our brave soldiers during a time of war.
She trained with the Women's Army Corps in Prince Albert before flying to England where she met my grandfather, Sergeant James MacDonald of the South Saskatchewan Regiment.
In the name of my grandmother's memory, I thank our Canadian heroes of the armed forces, our veterans and their families. Their sacrifices will never be forgotten.