Mr. Speaker, one of my constituents, Thaddeus Dreher, turned 100 years old on August 23. Thaddeus was born in Poland just before the First World War. He was an army officer and was studying engineering when Germany invaded Poland in 1939.
After the war, his brothers went to work for the RCMP in Ottawa and one of them became the owner of a bakery in Montreal. They convinced him that Canada was the best country in the world. His work as a civil engineer took him all over the world, and his talent for languages gave him a clear advantage. He spoke Polish, Russian, Latin, Italian, Spanish, English, French and a bit of Thai.
Suree, his wife of 54 years who is Thai, agrees that the secret to a long life is optimism and courage in the face of adversity and change.
Thaddeus, happy 100th birthday. You are an inspiration to us all.