Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the passing of an Alberta and Canadian icon.
In the late forties, Ron Southern, along with his father, invested some $2,000 and started the Alberta Trailer Company to house oilfield workers after the Leduc discovery of oil. That company, now known as ATCO, is now operating in five continents around the world, and employs over 8,000 people.
Ron Southern's legacy in Calgary is more for his philanthropic endeavours, which most people know as Spruce Meadows. Ron and his wife Marg took a piece of land, an old feed lot, on the south end of town and turned it into a world-class equestrian centre.
For the next number of decades, Calgarians will enjoy Spruce Meadows on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in late September. That will be the legacy of Ron Southern.