Mr. Speaker, for Zimbabwe and Africa, the resignation of Robert Mugabe is excellent news.
Having been born in Africa, I witnessed the winds of change blowing. At independence for the people of Zimbabwe, a new era of hope and prosperity was in the offing, but Mugabe's subsequent abuses of human rights and crimes turned those hopes around quickly into an dictatorial regime, drowning in poverty.
I met with the official opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, when he visited Canada and discussed extensively our shared hopes for a democratic future for Zimbabwe. It has been a long journey but today that hope has returned.
We will support the people of Zimbabwe in the bright future ahead of them. Good luck to Zimbabweans.