Mr. Speaker, yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. It was a time of economic hardship, violent purges, and Draconian communist order.
What started as a student march became a spontaneous uprising which took the communist authorities by surprise, prompting the Soviet Union to invade Hungary. It marked the first attempt by a country, a nation in the eastern bloc to revolt against Soviet oppression and achieve national freedom.
In a matter of weeks of violent fighting, the Soviets put a brutal end to the Hungarian Revolution, with 2,500 Hungarians giving their lives in the cause of freedom. In the wake of the uprising, 200,000 refugees escaped Hungary of which more than 37,000 were admitted to Canada.
It was the late Jim Prentice, who in 2010 announced the designation of the Refugees of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution as a national historic event in Canada.
Canada and Hungary share a common love for freedom, and today make common cause in the promotion of liberty and democracy.