Mr. Speaker, in this Veterans Week, I want to profile Mr. John Bennett, a resident of the veterans wing at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in my riding of Don Valley West in Toronto.
John Bennett was trained as an artist and has been a gifted painter all his life. He served as a camouflage officer during World War II and landed on the beaches of Normandy 10 days after D-Day. For the next two years, he served his country in Europe, all the while painting what he saw.
In October, 78 of Mr. Bennett's war-time water colours were accepted into the permanent collection of the National War Museum here in Ottawa. John, his family and five other veterans from Sunnybrook came to Ottawa to tour the War Museum, the National Gallery and Parliament Hill. On November 11, I will represent our government at the annual Remembrance Day ceremony at Sunnybrook. I encourage all Canadians to attend a ceremony in their community, talk to a veteran, listen to their stories and thank them.
Lest we forget.