Mr. Speaker, 30 years ago, on December 7, 1988, a magnitude 7 earthquake nearly wiped out the town of Spitak in Armenia and caused significant damage to 300 other communities. That earthquake caused nearly 25,000 deaths, and left tens of thousands of people injured and more than 500,000 people homeless.
Many countries provided aid to Armenia. Today, I want to pay tribute to Canada, the Red Cross, Armenians in Canada, Canadian citizens and the provincial governments who generously sent medical supplies and humanitarian aid to the disaster victims.
I also want to pay tribute to the Canadian Armed Forces for organizing an airlift to get our aid to Armenia. This is a real testament to friendship between peoples.