Mr. Speaker, west of the Parliament Buildings is a 19th-century building known as the Carbide Building, which reminds us of the inventor Thomas Carbide and other pioneers who created our magnificent country.
Those who walk or run by the building could easily ignore it and ignore our history. On the 65th anniversary of D-Day, I challenge my colleagues in this chamber and Canadians everywhere not to ignore our history.
For the sake of those Canadians who participated in that magnificent yet horrific event, such as Alan Dean, James Mannall, Ernie Renwick and Bob Hubbard, who were all members of the Canadian Legion on B.C.'s Sunshine Coast; for the sake of my uncle, the late Smokey Smith, who was Canada's last surviving Victoria Cross holder; and for the sake of my late father, a World War II prisoner of war, we must not ignore our history.
We must not ignore our historic buildings. Even more importantly, we must not ignore the sacred rights we enjoy today, thanks to the sacrifices of those brave soldiers who changed the world on D-Day. We will remember them.