Mr. Speaker, it is with sadness and gratefulness that I am able to stand in the House today on behalf of the federal New Democratic Party to offer our best wishes to our hon. colleague, the great member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley, and his family. May he have a long career, not just in representing his province but in whatever he chooses.
The hon. member and I share a distinction. In 2004, our ridings were redistributed. At that time, I had the pleasure of representing Sackville—Musquodoboit Valley—Eastern Shore. In 2004, it changed and the first thing the hon. member did was change the name of his riding from Cumberland—Colchester to Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley.
I could not believe it. In the 2000 election, there were a lot of orange signs along the Musquodoboit Valley. In 2004, there were a lot of blue signs along the Musquodoboit Valley. It showed the tremendous respect that the people, not just in the Musquodoboit Valley but in his entire riding, had for who was known at that time as “Highway Bill”.
I want to congratulate and personally thank the Premier of the Province of Nova Scotia, Mr. Rodney MacDonald, for his great choice in choosing who I thought was a fabulous candidate to represent the entire province and all politicians in the House and Senate in bringing forward the concerns and issues that face our beautiful province from day to day. However, he did make one little mistake in his presentation. He told us to come to his office for a taste of Nova Scotia. I should inform the House that he forgot to mention that the world's greatest lobster also come from the province of Nova Scotia.
That is without question, even though my colleagues from New Brunswick, P.E.I., the Gaspé and Newfoundland and Labrador may offer a slight difference of opinion. In a committee hearing in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia two weeks ago, it was said on the record that the world's finest lobsters come from the province of Nova Scotia and, if I may be more specific, from the eastern shore. However, that is something that I am sure the hon. member will be able to promote in his years of doing a great job as a sort of ambassador of Nova Scotia in this regard.
He gave a very poignant story of what it means to look at our responsibilities as members of Parliament and then to look after our own health needs. Many of us were so proud of the hon. member, Chuck Cadman's wife, for what she did in honour of her great husband, who, in many ways, also showed the same example of courage, determination, forthright honour and dignity. In many ways, the member for Cumberland—Colchester—Musquodoboit Valley is almost like a twin brother to the late Chuck Cadman because they were both of the same ilk. They were very dignified gentlemen who handled adversity, no matter what came their way, in a very respectful manner.
We will have many times in the future to say hello to our good friend, to his great riding association and to all the people he has met over the years. He has taught me a few things. He being six foot three and I being five foot seven, I can say that I always liked to look up to my hon. colleague.
On behalf of our leader, all the New Democrats from coast to coast to coast and, I am sure, on behalf of all my colleagues in the House of Commons, I thank my hon. colleague for his service to his country. I thank his wife and family for lending him to us so that he could do the great job of all parliamentarians. May he have a blessed future and may God bless him and his family. We thank him very much for his service to his country.