Mr. Speaker, at Christmastime, Nanaimo—Ladysmith celebrates groups serving on some very tough front-line social issues, such as the John Howard Society, which helps prison inmates stop reoffending and falling back into addiction.
After its staff Christmas party, Nanaimo business Holdfast Metalworks Ltd. gifted The John Howard Society with $5,000, saying:
... we have been impacted by the fantastic work the Society provides. We have two gentlemen employed at our shop that have been through your “Guthrie House” program. .... [They're] exemplary employees. They are motivated, caring and compassionate people with well-honed skills in conflict resolution and clear communication. It is because of your programs that they are looked upon as role models in our shop and have changed many of our other employees' attitudes in how they judge people that have had a less than typical past.
Thanks to the John Howard Society and to Holdfast Metalworks Ltd. for celebrating this work.
I wish my colleagues a merry Christmas.