Mr. Speaker, tomorrow, December 6, is the anniversary of the Halifax explosion.
Ninety-seven years ago, the SS Mont Blanc, a French munitions ship, and the SS Imo, a Belgian relief ship, collided in Halifax Harbour. Minutes later the SS Mont Blanc ignited and quickly exploded. That explosion was the largest prior to the atomic bomb. The blast was heard and felt over 200 kilometres away. About 1,600 people were killed immediately, and another 9,000 were seriously injured. Hundreds more perished in the resulting fires. Worse yet, that evening a winter nor'easter dropped freezing temperatures and heavy snow on the survivors.
Much of Halifax was a destroyed city, and relief trains were sent from the rest of the country, but the first to reach Halifax, carrying doctors, nurses, and supplies, was from Boston, Massachusetts.
In 1919, the province of Nova Scotia sent a giant Christmas tree to Boston as a thank you. In 1971, that tradition was continued, and every year since, a 15-metre-tall Nova Scotia Christmas tree is lit in the Boston Common as a reminder of our gratitude for Boston's assistance long ago.