Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to the renowned artist, Doris McCarthy, a native of my home, Scarborough, Ontario. Sadly, she passed away on November 25 at the age of 100.
Great art can define a nation and define its image of itself. A painter of the Canadian landscape, McCarthy possessed more than mere brilliance at her craft, but also a deep insight into the profound connection that attaches Canadians to our solemn land.
She continued the artistic traditions of Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven, building on their legacy and imprinting her vision of our natural world on the Canadian psyche.
As Pierre Trudeau once wrote, “I know a man whose school could never teach him patriotism, but who acquired that virtue when he felt in his bones the vastness of his land”.
This is the spirit that moved Doris McCarthy, and it is a spirit which moves us still. She will be missed.