Mr. Speaker, 175 years ago yesterday in what is now Saint-Lin–Laurentides, Quebec, Henri Charles Wilfrid Laurier was born and Canadian history was inexorably changed as a result.
I rise today to join all Canadians in celebrating a Canadian icon and statesman. Sir Laurier willed into being the open, tolerant, and diverse Canada we know and cherish today.
Since being elected to federal office 142 years ago and 120 years since being named prime minister, Sir Laurier's sunny ways continue to resonate in these halls, albeit sporadically, but fortunately considerably more often across our land. Considered by many Canada's greatest prime minister, Laurier is, on a personal level, my favourite prime minister, with one obvious exception.
His ringing pronouncement “Canada is free and freedom is its nationality” remains as true today as when Laurier first pronounced it.