Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay my deepest respect to the Bush family on the passing of a great friend to Canada, the 41st president of the United States, George Herbert Walker Bush. President Bush had a long and successful record of serving the American people before taking his chair in the oval office.
His strong leadership would help end Communism in the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union would collapse as the winds of freedom and democracy blew across eastern Europe and Ukraine.
It was President Bush and former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney who spearheaded the North American Free Trade Agreement. In 1992, he called the agreement, “the beginning of a new era”, and a new era it was. It was a partnership and a friendship that benefited all three countries.
At the completion of his term, Bush left a letter in the oval office for incoming President Bill Clinton. In it there was no hostility, no animosity, no name calling, just encouragement, kindness and well wishes. Bush was always a gentleman who brought honour to the office in which he served.
On behalf of the Conservative Party, may I offer all Americans our sincerest condolences.