Mr. Speaker, I pay tribute today to a champion of Canada's linguistic duality and a tireless advocate for human rights, Max Yalden.
As a career diplomat, he served in Moscow, Paris and as ambassador in Brussels. From 1977 to 1984, he was Canada's commissioner of official languages and made every effort to help the French language flourish within the federal government and across Canada. He also urged Quebec to do more to protect its anglophone communities.
Max Yalden then led the Canadian Human Rights Commission from 1987 to 1996, holding governments and departments to account for discriminatory attitudes. He tackled gender wage gaps, discrimination in hiring, biases against sexual orientation, online hate speech and Canada's treatment of aboriginal people. He followed that domestic role with eight years as a member of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1988 and a Companion of the Order in 1999.
Max Yalden passed away earlier this year at the age of 84. He will be forever remembered as a great Canadian for his numerous achievements, and his spirited defence of human rights.