Mr. Speaker, it is always a great honour for me to speak here, but even more so today, since all my colleagues and I are paying tribute to Canada's veterans.
It is always an honour to speak here, but never as much as when we turn our attention to the sacrifices of so many who have put on the uniform of the Canadian Armed Forces and left our safe shores to protect us in hostile places.
I spoke last year of how I know so many veterans within my own family and my circle of friends who always remember the sacrifices, the people they lost, the friends they lost, the carnage of war, the inhumanity of war, and come back home as veterans, seeking nothing more than that we strive harder for peace.
We need to remember the sacrifices of veterans without glorifying war. We need to remember that those who put on that uniform did so at such a cost, but in the hopes of a durable peace.
Canada has stood for peace for a very long time. Our former prime minister, Lester B. Pearson, received the Nobel peace prize for creating peacekeepers. When I am in my hometown of Sidney, British Columbia, I am always honoured when the veterans who served with UN peacekeeping forces ask me to ride with them on Canada Day.
Our veterans put on many different shades of uniforms, but as they come home, regardless of where they served, how they served, where they fought, or if they just put themselves in a position to be ready to be called, we owe them.
We owe it to them to take care of them when they are injured and provide the services they need. When we say, “Lest we forget”, we remember that those words are hollow if we do not attend to the needs of all of our veterans.
Today is an incredibly sad day. Everyone here has suffered a great deal over the last few weeks. A young man, Nathan Cirillo, lost his life. Everyone now knows so much about him and he remains close to our hearts. To his loved ones and his family, everyone here is paying tribute to Nathan Cirillo and Patrick Vincent.
We have lost a lot the last few weeks, but let us remember that Canada's traditions and the hopes, and indeed, to honour veterans who served to protect the peace that we must do the same.