Madam Speaker, I rise in the House to support the bill before us.
I do so with considerable pride. As I join my colleagues who represent the great people of Prince Edward Island, I do so as a proud native of the city of Charlottetown and a proud son of Prince Edward Island.
The fact is that this bill, as necessary as it has now become, is really just a statement of historical fact. In 1864, the Fathers of Confederation came together on Great George Street in Charlottetown to lay the foundation and lay the principles of what has, today, become a great nation. The people of Charlottetown and the people of Prince Edward Island, throughout my lifetime and before, have always celebrated the fact, with great pride and distinction, that it is there, in Prince Edward Island, that this country was born, that those who have founded this great country have put the principles and the compromises in place that make Canada what it is today.
Very briefly, as a son of Prince Edward Island, I want to add my voice and my support, and my thanks to my colleagues from Prince Edward Island, to the member for Malpeque, and to the member for Egmont, both of whom I have known for many decades, and all of the great people of Prince Edward Island. I express with considerable pride and with consideration passion my support for the bill before this House.