Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order, which relates to a unanimous consent motion passed in the House of Commons on May 24, and it relates to the unanimous consent given on the installation of a plaque commemorating a former MP from the Great War, Sam Sharpe. The unanimous consent motion was seconded by my colleague on the other side, the MP for Pickering—Uxbridge, and there was much help from the member for Scarborough—Guildwood as well.
The installation is to be held before the 100th year anniversary of the armistice that ended the war. We have been informed in recent days that it is the intention of the Minister of Veterans Affairs not to install the plaque, as per the unanimous consent of the House, but to display the maquette. The maquette, the model for the commemorative plaque, was displayed in 2015. The intention of the House on May 24 was to install the plaque here in Centre Block.
I would quote from the unanimous consent motion passed on May 24 in this place:
one day before the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of MP Sam Sharpe, [this House] call for the commemorative bronze plaque of Samuel Simpson Sharp, sculpted by Canadian artist Tyler Briley, to be installed in the Centre Block ahead of the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice that ended the First World War
It went on to give discretion to the Minister of Veterans Affairs, during the period of closure of Centre Block for renovations, to allow the plaque to be removed from its installation and loaned to the Operational Stress Injury Clinic at the Royal Ottawa Hospital.
All sides agreed to a very detailed and very much discussed unanimous consent motion, and it is my sincere hope, in the spirit of bipartisanship in relation to reducing the stigma associated with mental injuries from service, that before 100 years passes from the end of the Great War, we can rectify an omission by the House of Commons almost a century ago, when the iconic statue of George Baker was provided in the lobby here and no mention was made of sitting member of Parliament Sam Sharpe.
That unanimous consent motion was passed on the eve of the 100th anniversary of his death by suicide in the year the Legion has decided to make the Silver Cross Mother the mother of Private Welch, who was a casualty, through a similar means, after the Afghanistan war.
Let us show a spirit of bipartisan co-operation to meet the goal and the clear, express intention of the House and install the plaque tomorrow or before November 11. That is really our duty. That was the will of the House. The fact that the intention of the minister is now to deviate from that express will brings my point of order for your clarification.