Mr. Speaker, on March 25, David Weatherhead, the first member of Parliament for Scarborough West, passed away.
David was first elected in 1968 and again in 1980. While fiercely partisan, David had the generosity of spirit which enabled him to extend his hand in friendship to all members of Parliament.
David arrived in this place feeling that the rules and procedures of the House and committees needed to be reformed. He felt that, in order to deal with a backlog of legislation, the rules needed to be changed. One of the suggestions he put forth was that speeches by members should be limited to 20 minutes. However, David believed that the rights of all members, especially those of opposition members, to express themselves on an issue should be respected.
On behalf of the Liberal Party, I extend our condolences to David's family and friends. I also want to thank David for his service.