Mr. Speaker, I rise to talk about the amazing Franklin discovery, the discovery of one of our ships lost since 1846 and the Durham connection to this discovery.
The Prime Minister's passion for the Arctic and for this Franklin discovery is well known. While we did not find Franklin slumped over the wheel as the Prime Minister hoped, we found one of the two ships in remarkable condition. This is an important part of our history as Canadians and of our Arctic sovereignty.
I would like to talk about the Durham connection to this discovery in the Victoria Strait.
Mr. Joshua Thienpont from Courtice, a graduate of Courtice High School, was on one of the vessels in the Arctic. A Ph.D. student from Queen's studying Arctic ecosystems, he was there as part of the Weston Foundation. This highlights another remarkable part of this discovery: the collaboration of Parks Canada, the Royal Canadian Navy, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the Weston Foundation and others to bring forth this amazing discovery and our rich Canadian history.
I congratulate Joshua and the entire team on this remarkable discovery.