Mr. Speaker, on November 16, I had the honour to attend a citizenship ceremony for 33 new Canadians from 11 different countries organized by the Orangeville District Secondary School and the Orangeville Legion Colonel Fitzgerald Branch 233.
My compliments to principal Pat Hamilton, Department head Paul Nelson, Janine Grin, and Kathy Trimble for bringing together the student body resulting in such an impressive ceremony.
I thank the Orangeville Legion President Chris Skalozub and the Legion’s colour party for the tremendous effort they all undertook in making this ceremony memorable.
In addition, I would like to thank the senior band, Honour Stahl for her poetry reading, the ODSS choir, the yearbook class, Pommelien Thijs' beautiful rendition of O Canada, and the students who formed the flag-waving human tunnel that celebrated each new citizen. It was a tremendous experience.
Finally, I would like to thank former principals Bill Lenny and the late Darryl Kirkland, under whose leadership this initiative began.
Well done, ODSS.