Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of World Red Cross Red Crescent Day to pay tribute to Red Cross staff and volunteers across the country like Douglas Mole from Fonthill, Ontario in my riding of Niagara West—Glanbrook.
After serving for 28 years in the Canadian military, Mr. Mole joined the Red Cross movement in 2001 when he responded to the tragedy of September 11 in New York. Since then, he has used his skills as a logistics delegate to help people around the world, whether it be in conflict zones, responding to natural disasters, or distributing bed nets to fight malaria.
When he is home in Canada, Mr. Mole serves as a Red Cross emergency response volunteer in the Niagara region. His partner, Christiane Muir, is also a fellow Red Cross delegate.
The Red Cross responds to thousands of disasters every year, ranging from single house fires, to floods that disrupt entire regions of this country, to large-scale natural disasters like the earthquake in Haiti.
It is Canadians like Douglas Mole who make up the heart of this leading global humanitarian organization and today we salute them.