Mr. Speaker, I would like to extend my deepest condolences to Melissa Seguin and her young sons, Logan and Harrison, for the loss of their father and her husband, Christopher Seguin. I have known Christopher for over nine years in his time as vice-president of advancement at Thompson Rivers University. He generated millions of dollars for student awards, ground-breaking research, and major buildings. Most recently he stepped up to the plate and provided leadership while supporting the B.C. wildfire evacuees. With the Rotary Club of Kamloops, he established the Starfish Pack program to help feed young children, and he volunteered for the Kamloops Food Bank for the past decade.
Sadly, Christopher was an exceptional leader of our community who died at age 39 from an accidental overdose. This highlights a crisis that we have on our hands. No one is immune. I always thought that one day I would be paying tribute to Christopher in this House and looking up at him in the visitors' gallery, not delivering a memorial to a good friend. Despite our best efforts, we need to do more. I call on the government to call a national emergency.