Debates of April 30th, 2013

Strengthening Military Justice in the Defence of Canada Act

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, order. I am going to give the member a few seconds to wrap up, but again would remind him to address the Chair rather than his colleagues.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the government needs to recognize that it is the one that is ultimately responsible for not doing the right thing here, and that is treating the Canadian Forces with more respect when it comes to judicial process.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with great interest to the member's speech, apparently using speaking points from our speeches for the six or eight months that we debated this in Parliament.

The member said he did not know how many times he had listened to us. Well, we had 55 speakers at second reading. I think the hon. member's party had three, and they supported the legislation at second reading. We voted against it. We went to committee and introduced I do not know how many amendments—15, 16, 20, or thereabouts. The Liberal Party, which supported the second reading and seemed to be satisfied with it, introduced none.

Now it is coming here, reading our speaking notes, saying that it is going to vote against the legislation and giving us grief because we have tried to improve the legislation. We brought forth the witnesses to say the things that the member is now quoting. We championed this cause.

I want to understand why it is that the member gave the speech that he did. Was the Charter of Rights not in existence when his government was in power, between 1993 and 2006? What did you do about it then?

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Before I go to the member for Winnipeg North, I would like to remind all hon. members again, including the member for St. John's East, to address their comments to the Chair rather than their colleagues.

The hon. member for Winnipeg North.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, the New Democrats need to give their collective head a shake on this issue. They are just not making any sense. It is time to have a caucus and try to get things on the right track, or at least revisit what it is that they are doing.

Let us think about it. The Liberal Party says, "Yes, let the bill go to committee. In principle, let us allow it to go to committee in the hope that government will in fact make some of the changes." What does the NDP do? It says, "No, do not let it go to committee." It goes to committee and what do the New Democrats do? They propose 22 amendments, all of which get defeated and then they go on to have a filibuster on the legislation. Now, they have somehow had this road to Damascus conversion. The Minister of Defence has hoodwinked them and now they are going to be voting in favour of the legislation.

The Liberal Party has been consistent on this piece of legislation. In fact, I would suggest that it has been the Liberal Party that has said that it recognizes that our members of the Canadian Forces should have the same treatment, as much as possible, in the justice system as civilians.

That is something in which we want to narrow the scope. Obviously, we are different from the New Democrats. They really need to re-caucus the issue because they are out of tune with the charter.

[Mark Strahl, Conservative, Chilliwack—Fraser Canyon, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I listened with amusement to the hon. member's speech.

I did want to ask him why the members of the Liberal Party of Canada did nothing about this during its 13 years in power. How many more years would they have needed in government to bring forward significant reform to Canada's military justice system? Are they just blowing hot air once again here in the chamber?

I know the hon. member was not a member of the government, but he could look behind him to the hon. member for Scarborough—Guildwood and perhaps ask him.

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, one could ask the member why is it that the former Reform Party never recognized it as a valuable issue to the degree that it never raised it in question period.

The member is clapping his hands. He should give himself a clap and a pat on the back. The Reform Party was a disaster.

I suspect the New Democrats also never raised the issue in question period.

It was not until 2003 that the study came down to deal with the issue, which was initiated by the Liberal Party. Yes, there were a lot of things that we did in those last three years. They can talk about the Kelowna accord, child care and managing our economy to the degree that we had a surplus. We had a trade surplus. Look at where we are today. Yes, it would have been nice.

Now we have the opportunity to make a difference and let us do it right. If they do not want to do it right, wait until 2015 and the Liberals will get it right.

[Pierre-Luc Dusseault, NDP, Sherbrooke, QC]

Mr. Speaker, the member for Winnipeg North seems to be obsessed with the NDP. He spent about 10 out of 20 minutes talking about us. Is it because he won by 45 votes over the NDP in Winnipeg North that he is so obsessed with us and what we are doing?

I come back to the question that was asked. They voted for the bill at second reading. Normally, this course of action is taken in order to propose substantial amendments in committee and try to improve the bill. However, once the bill got to committee, they did not do anything. To defend themselves, they said they tried to improve the bill, but they did absolutely nothing.

Is it the Liberals’ philosophy to sit back and let the government do what it wants to, without saying anything or making any concrete proposals? Instead of simply voting against a bill, the Liberals should also put forward amendments, as we do in committee. What does the member think?

[Kevin Lamoureux, Liberal, Winnipeg North, MB]

Mr. Speaker, one of the things I never do is take my constituents for granted. Whether one wins by 45 votes or 4,500 votes, I like to believe that I never take my constituents for granted and I will continue to work for them. I suspect members will find an attitude like that within the Liberal caucus.

Within the New Democratic caucus, members might feel that Jack Layton was its jackpot. However, at the end of the day, members will have to answer to the best of their abilities.

What concerns me is the fact that we continue to move forward where we can, and I believe that this legislation could have been made better.

I apologize if I offended anyone with my comments regarding Jack Layton. I respect what he was able to accomplish as a parliamentarian. However, my point in standing at this time is to say that we should never take our constituents for granted.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

Order, please. Before we resume debate, I understand the hon. member for Saint-Lambert is rising on a question of privilege.

Scope of Private Members' Bills

[Sadia Groguhé, NDP, Saint-Lambert, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the question of privilege—which is not truly a question of privilege—raised by my colleague from Toronto Centre. The question has to do with the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which recommends to the House that it:

...be granted the power during its consideration of Bill C-425, An Act to amend the Citizenship Act (honouring the Canadian Armed Forces) to expand the scope of the Bill such that the provisions of the bill be not limited to the Canadian Armed Forces.

I want to share why I think this question should be ruled out of order. However, before I share my arguments, I would like to correct what has been said so far. When the hon. Leader of the Government in the House of Commons, the member for York—Simcoe, spoke on April 25, 2013, he misled he House. In speaking about the amendment, he implied that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is:

...asking the House to debate it for a number of hours and decide whether we think it is within the scope [of the bill]...

As you know, Mr. Speaker, that is not at all the case. This report does not ask us to determine whether the proposed amendments are within the scope of the bill. On the contrary, as I will explain later on, the committee clearly showed that it knows the proposed amendments are outside the scope of the bill. The report asks the House to give the committee the power to expand the scope of the bill and not to make judgments about amendments that could be made in committee.

I must also add that the member for Toronto Centre clearly did not do his homework before he spoke prematurely on the concurrence of this report before a motion to concur even made it to the order paper. A committee may seek an instruction from the House to expand the scope of a bill. In the second edition of House of Commons Procedure and Practice, O'Brien and Bosc are clear:

Once a bill has been referred to a committee, the House may instruct the committee by way of a motion authorizing what would otherwise be beyond its powers, such as, for example...expanding or narrowing the scope or application of a bill. A committee that so wishes may also seek an instruction from the House.

That is exactly what the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is trying to do with its eighth report.

However, and this is the reason for my speech, there is a limit to the instruction that the House can give to a committee. I would like to quote from O'Brien and Bosc once again:

A motion of instruction will be ruled out of order if it does not relate to the content of the bill, if it goes beyond the scope of the bill (for example, by embodying a principle that is foreign to it...

That is why, Mr. Speaker, I firmly believe that you must intervene and rule that the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration's request for instruction is out of order. This request is far too broad and does not allow the House to determine if the committee is likely to include a principle that is foreign to the bill.

There is some precedent where motions of instruction were deemed to be in order and were debated in the House. However, in each of those instances, the instructions were far clearer than those sought by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration today. One example is from April 27, 2010, when the member for Nanaimo—Cowichan moved the following motion of instruction:

That it be an instruction to the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, that it have the power during its consideration of Bill C-3, An Act to promote gender equity in Indian registration by responding to the Court of Appeal for British Columbia decision in McIvor v. Canada (Registrar of Indian and Northern Affairs), to expand the scope of the Bill so that a grandchild born before 1985 with a female grandparent would receive the same entitlement to status as a grandchild of a male grandparent born in the same period.

This motion was very clear and was ruled to be in order with good reason. It gave the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development permission to expand the scope of the bill in question, while providing strict limits as to how the committee could do that. By voting on this motion, the House was assured that the committee would not include a principle that is foreign to it in the bill.

In contrast, the motion of instruction that we have before us is simply asking the House for the power to expand the scope of the bill so that it is not limited to just the Canadian Armed Forces. What does that mean exactly? What amendments does the committee want make to the bill so that it applies to more than just the Canadian Armed Forces?

As it currently stands, the bill allows permanent residents who are members of the Canadian Armed Forces to get their citizenship more quickly. By asking that the bill apply to more than just members of the Canadian Armed Forces, is the committee suggesting that it would like to amend the bill so that permanent residents who are working in professions that are not related to the Canadian Armed Forces can also get their citizenship more quickly?

It is not at all clear. How can the House decide on such a motion of instruction when it does not know how the committee will proceed or whether the committee will try to include a principle that is not foreign to it in the bill?

I would also like to add that, if the committee's motion of instruction were to be found in order, it would set a dangerous precedent. By allowing a standing committee to expand the scope of a bill without specific instructions, we would be going down a very dangerous path under the current circumstances. Given this majority government's tendency to use private members' business to forward their own agenda, private members' business would be used as a way for the government to get around the rules.

Catherine Dauvergne, a law professor at the University of British Columbia, appeared before the committee as an individual during the examination of Bill C-425. She could not have provided a better explanation of the danger associated with such solicitation of instructions. She said:

...such a profound change to our Citizenship Act such as the one the minister is proposing must not be done by a process like this, by a private member's bill. That process reduces the time allowed for debate and for this committee to do its work and it protects the changes that the minister is proposing. This is controlling democracy.

Mr. Speaker, as you know, section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Examination Regulations states:

In the case of every Bill introduced in or presented to the House of Commons by a Minister of the Crown, the Minister shall, forthwith on receipt of two copies of the Bill from the Clerk of the House of Commons, (a) examine the Bill in order to determine whether any of the provisions thereof are inconsistent with the purposes and provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms...

By asking standing committees to broaden the scope of bills to include suggestions from ministers, the government is not fulfilling its responsibility to examine the bills, as stated in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Examination Regulations.

Pursuant to Standing Order 91.1(1), the constitutionality of private members' business is studied only by the Subcommittee on Private Members' Business, before a bill is debated at second reading.

By trying to expand the scope of the bill after second reading, the government is avoiding the constitutional test and will therefore be able to amend private members' bills as it sees fit, instead of presenting those concepts in government bills that must pass the constitutional test of the Minister of Justice.

Mr. Speaker, let me conclude by urging you to pay particular attention to the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, which the NDP feels should be ruled out of order.

Such a request for instruction is much too broad for the House to be able to ensure that the changes subsequently made by the committee will not include concepts that are foreign to the bill and will not violate the charter.

Giving such latitude to a standing committee will set a very dangerous precedent that this majority government will certainly use in a partisan and anti-democratic fashion.

Thank you for your attention. To help you with your study of this important issue, I will provide you with the evidence from the study of Bill C-425 conducted by the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

I am convinced that, once you look at the evidence, you will also agree that the eighth report of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration is out of order.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

The Chair thanks the hon. member for Saint-Lambert for her contribution. I am certain the Speaker will take it into consideration when he deliberates on this matter.

Resuming debate, the hon. member for St. John's East.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to have an opportunity to speak to Bill C-15 at third reading.

It has been quite interesting listening to the debate. It seems to have taken a very interesting turn. However, I want to explain not only for members of the House—in particular the Liberal Party, which does not seem to understand the legislative process—but also for the men and women in our military, our soldiers, sailors and airmen, how the legislation is designed to improve the circumstances of not only their lot but of military justice in general.

It seems as if the Liberal caucus has just discovered the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which was brought into force, in my recollection, some time in 1983 while the Liberals were in power. Certainly they were in power from 1993 to 2006. They did not seem to have the concerns that they are raising here at third reading about the issue.

Let me explain why our party is supporting this legislation at third reading today.

My first involvement with Bill C-15 was with its predecessor, Bill C-41, in the last Parliament. In the last Parliament there was a terrific amount of effort made by our party, and this hon. member, when we were the same size as the Liberals are now. I took my place as one member on a committee of a dozen. We were in the majority on the opposition side of the House. It was a minority government.

One of the things that I made an important aspect of our cause in that committee was to try to seek improvements on the issue of summary trials. That was done not only through amendments in relation to that particular provision but also through a whole series of others. In fact, in our caucus I had probably the greatest number of amendments to the legislation at that time, several of which passed. Unfortunately, they were stripped out by the government in this iteration, Bill C-15.

One of the things I was particularly concerned about as someone who has practised law and criminal law for a number of years, since about 1980, was the fact that the summary trial provisions did not accord the kinds of protections that the civilian trial system does. People in the forces were getting criminal records for things that no one would ever get a record for in civilian society. Not only that, they were not afforded the protection of due process.

The member for Winnipeg North can read one of the 55 speeches that we gave at second reading, when we voted against the legislation as it was presented because we did not support it in principle. It had nothing to do with going to committee. Second stage reading is approval in principle; we did not approve it in principle because the amendments that had been made in the last Parliament were stripped out and the protections were minimal for those charged with offences. We were concerned about that, so we voted against it at second reading.

We submitted 22 amendments at committee to improve the bill. There were a lot of improvements in the bill already. It was a reformatory piece of legislation. It sought to advance a whole number of issues that needed to be taken seriously as a result of recommendations that had come by way of two important reports by former chief justices of Canada.

It was not perfect and it is not perfect now. However, if we have to wait for perfection, there would be no legislation passed in the House, so we have to deal with what we have on the table today.

What we have today is that the amendment passed in committee would now result in some 93% of all of the charges that would be laid under the code of military justice not resulting in a criminal record for the men and women in uniform. That is substantial progress.

It is not perfect. In fact, we have a whole series of other things that we would do in government, and in fact, there is one backward step in the bill, which I will get to. It has to do with instructions to be given to the Provost Marshal by the Vice Chief of the Defence Staff in terms of a particular investigation. We are here today to make a commitment to the men and women in uniform that when we get into power in 2015, we will fix that.

Not only will we fix that, but we will also do some of the other things that I am going to talk about shortly, some of the things that we proposed in committee to improve the grievance process.

We have a terrible situation in the military with regard to grievances. Individuals can have a grievance over something as mundane as whether they should get paid a certain amount of money—$500, or whatever—for moving expenses. Sometimes these people have to wait 12 or 18 months to get their grievance processed. That is wrong. People as prominent as a former chief justice of Canada were saying there should be a time limit of 12 months maximum, and that if it cannot be figured out in 12 months, the person should be able to go to the Federal Court and get the reason why. That seemed to me to be very simple and practical, and we actually moved that amendment.

We did not see any amendments from the Liberals in committee. They supported the bill at second reading, and by the way, second reading does not mean we vote for the bill to go to committee. I have been here for five years in two different pieces. I was in another legislature for 16 years.

[Greg Rickford, Conservative, Kenora, ON]

One and a half.

[Jack Harris, NDP, St. John's East, NL]

No. I have been here five. I was here one time before, way back in the 33rd Parliament. I was 16 years in another legislature. Second reading meant the same thing in both places, which is approval in principle, so when the Liberals voted for this legislation at second reading, they voted for approval in principle.

The principles that were there then are still there today. The Liberals offered no improvements, although there were a couple of substantial improvements, one of them about summary trials. Now that the bill has been improved, they do not like it and they are going to vote against it. I do not understand that. I will let the public and members of the military try to figure out why the Liberals have changed their minds on this bill.

There have been some improvements, although the system for grievances needs to be tightened up and we need to have more civilians on the board. We moved amendments to that effect. We are pleased that the act has been reviewed.

We also brought forward witnesses, probably some of the most eloquent witnesses that the committee has heard from, who talked about justice in general and military justice in particular. I am speaking of a retired justice of the Federal Court of Appeal who was the former commissioner of the Somalia commission. He has a great deal of knowledge about military justice in Canada and about the operation of the military. He had some very important things to say to the committee about what is really needed. He asked for a more comprehensive review of military justice, and we reiterated that in our request. That needs to be done.

I will read the suggestion from his evidence:

Hence, my first point is there is a need for a fundamental wall-to-wall review of the National Defence Act, a review that has to be conducted outside the control of the Department of National Defence so that Parliament can be provided with a legislative proposal that addresses not only the wishes of the military leadership but also, first and foremost, the expectations of our civil society, who demand that our soldiers who serve in uniform be afforded rights equal to those provided in the civilian penal system in Canada and other militaries abroad. This is currently not the case.

We knew that. We knew that going in. I suspect that if the Liberals had listened to our speeches during second reading, and God knows we made enough of them, they would have known it at second reading when they voted in favour of the legislation and when we voted against it.

We brought forward excellent, erudite, eloquent, experienced witnesses to bring home the point that there was a problem that needs to be solved. We did not expect all of the problems to be solved by amendments to the legislation; a number of the amendments we brought forward were ruled out of order, inadmissible, beyond the scope of the bill. We knew that. We brought them forward because they had to be brought forward. These were changes that had to be made.

We are committed to making changes to overhaul some of these problems when we form government, but that does not mean we are prepared to throw out the baby with the bath water when we have legislation before us that brings forward changes that we had a great deal of responsibility for in urging on the government back in 2010 when Bill C-41 was brought in. When those amendments were there, they were passed in committee; they did not get passed in the House because the bill was never called before the election took place.

I am here because I have devoted several years of work trying to get to where we are today. I am not going to turn my back on that progress and say to the men and women in uniform that although we got this far, we cannot support this legislation.

I talked about a backward step. I do not know how often it will be used, but we did not get convincing reasons for the Provost Marshal's investigations to be under the control of the VCDS. We are not satisfied with that. As I said, at the committee we had some very significant testimony from witnesses on the issue of making sure that our soldiers, sailors and airmen receive the same kind of standards of justice as exist elsewhere. This aspect has to be fixed and improved.

I only have a minute before we go to statements by members, but I believe I will be able to come back for eight minutes afterward, when I will conclude. However, I wanted to explain, in brief at least, why we are supporting this legislation today and why we see some progress being made, and to make the commitment to our soldiers, sailors and airmen that when we form government, we will go the distance and do the full job.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Barry Devolin]

As mentioned, when this matter returns before the House, the hon. member for St. John's East will have eight minutes remaining in his speech.

Statements by members, the hon. member for Mississauga—Streetsville.

Vita Centre

[Brad Butt, Conservative, Mississauga—Streetsville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, last Friday, I had the opportunity, along with the member for Mississauga South, to visit Vita Centre, an organization dedicated to providing life-affirming community support to all pregnant and parenting women in Peel region.

Founded in 1991, the centre has a specific focus on support, education and counselling for pregnant and parenting youth. Its first support home was located at 47 Queen Street South in Streetsville. Greeted by executive director Deborah Thomson and several board members, we toured their wonderful facilities in Mississauga and engaged with clients who attend the on-site school so that they may also care for their children. The centre runs many successful programs, including growing as parents; me, my baby, our world; Peel parenting partnership; and the Vita supper connection.

Mississauga and Peel region are better places because of Vita Centre. Its kind, loving and compassionate support of women, children and families is unparalleled in our community.

Bangladesh

[Matthew Kellway, NDP, Beaches—East York, ON]

Mr. Speaker, with nearly 400 dead in the rubble of a factory and hundreds more still unaccounted for, we mourn along with the people of Bangladesh. Shobar Jonno Valobasha. Lives have been lost for “fresh style, fresh price”, as the slogan goes. That must change.

In the backdrop to this tragedy is a Bangladesh threatened by extremism. For months, political upheaval and violence have been tearing at the fabric of the nation, threatening to pull it apart. Nearly 42 years ago, hundreds of thousands died for the liberation of Bangladesh. The wounds have not yet healed, the pain not yet subsided. I hear it in the music and poetry of those who live in my riding.

However, there is a future open to Bangladesh, one without violence and persecution, one with the rule of law and human rights protected, a secular Bangladesh that can accommodate people of different faiths peacefully. It is my hope that the war for liberation will come to an end at last, but that the Spirit of '71 will continue to guide a new generation to the country that those who died for its liberation could only dream of.

The Princess Shop

[Kelly Block, Conservative, Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar, SK]

Mr. Speaker, as high school students prepare for graduation, I would like to highlight the work of the Princess Shop, whose annual benefit I had the privilege of attending earlier this month. The Princess Shop was founded in Saskatoon in 2007 to create enhanced graduation experiences for female students in need and provide them with the mentorship, support and tools they need for success after finishing high school.

Today, the Princess Shop is active in many communities around Saskatoon, making sure that girls living in both urban and rural areas can have the graduation experience they have always dreamed of. As the mother of four wonderful children, I understand the important milestone that high school graduation is. It is an exciting time of celebrating the effort and accomplishments of the past 12 years, while looking to the future and all it holds.

I would like to congratulate the entire volunteer team at the Princess Shop for the vital support they provide to young princesses in our province.

Canadian Space Program

[Marc Garneau, Liberal, Westmount—Ville-Marie, QC]

Mr. Speaker, today, the Bank of Canada unveiled its new $5 and $10 bills. The $5 bill celebrates Canadian space robotics technology.

The bill depicts Canada's contribution to the International Space Station: the Canadarm2 robotic arm and Dextre, the two-armed robot.

Canadians are proud of the space technology we pioneered both at the National Research Council and in our space industry. Canada has developed many outstanding space technologies, including RADARSAT-1 launched in 1995, which made us the world leader in earth observation using radar. Today, after 18 years of operation, it appears that RADARSAT-1 may finally be calling it a day. This is extraordinary. It was designed for five years.

Please join me in paying tribute to Canada's space program, for it has surely made all of Canada proud since we became the third country in space way back in 1962.

Birthday Congratulations

[Tilly O'Neill-Gordon, Conservative, Miramichi, NB]

Mr. Speaker, I rise in the House today to salute a very special lady, who today is celebrating her 100th birthday. I speak of none other than Mary Walsh, better known to all of us as Mary Roland.

Mary's family, friends, all of Escuminac, Hardwoods, Baie-Sainte-Anne, plus all other surrounding communities join in wishing her a very happy birthday. She has always been there for family, friends and community, so in addition to extending birthday wishes, I say thanks on behalf of all her friends and family. Thanks for her warm hospitality, hot cups of tea and for a table always topped with delicious food, but most of all for a table always surrounded with chats, friendship and laughter. Mary is a great lady and I trust that her day is a special one.

Happy birthday, Mary.

Disabled Sports Challenge

[Tyrone Benskin, NDP, Jeanne-Le Ber, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I would like to highlight the remarkable accomplishments of AlterGo, an organization in my riding. It just welcomed more than 4,000 athletes from over 20 countries for the 30th edition of its Défi sportif, which was held in Montreal.

The objective of Défi sportif is to put on events for high-level athletes and promote the development of in-school sports for youth with disabilities. More than 10% of Montrealers have a functional limitation. Défi sportif AlterGo showcases the triumphs of athletes with all types of functional limitations and reinforces the importance of universal accessibility.

On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, I would like to congratulate Défi sportif and thank all the athletes, organizations and partners and the thousands of volunteers.

Congratulations.

Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School

[Lois Brown, Conservative, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the 125th anniversary of Dr. G.W. Williams Secondary School is right around the corner. This long-standing Aurora institution is celebrating the milestone May 3 and 4.

A Williams grad myself, I still remember the amazing teachers and incredible school spirit. It began in 1888 as the Aurora High School on Church Street before moving to Wells Street in 1892.

The school moved to its current location on Dunning Avenue 60 years later and became the Aurora District High School. In 1961, it was given its present-day name, fondly known as Williams.

We watched many a football game while cheering on our team with the memorable chant, “Let's go, double blue; double blue, go; let's go”.

Congratulations to the Williams 125th reunion committee for its hard work in organizing this historic event. I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend at Williams.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch 96 Ladies' Auxiliary

[Gord Brown, Conservative, Leeds—Grenville, ON]

Mr. Speaker, recently I joined the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 96 Ladies' Auxiliary as it celebrated its 85th anniversary in Brockville. Established in 1928, it is one of the oldest ladies' auxiliary groups in Ontario.

The non-profit volunteer organization supports veterans and the Legion. It raises money through catering, luncheons and a Christmas bazaar, among other activities. In the past two years, it has donated about $30,000 in money and equipment to the Brockville Legion.

At its 85th anniversary dinner, it honoured 11 members who have given more than 50 years of service each.

On behalf of the veterans they serve, I would like to recognize president Mary-Ann Greenwood and the exceptional volunteers of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch 96 Ladies' Auxiliary.