Mr. Speaker, it is with much sadness that I rise today on behalf of my NDP colleagues to pay tribute to a former member of Parliament, a colleague and friend, Bev Desjarlais. Bev passed away on Thursday at 62 years young.
Bev was elected to the House of Commons for the riding of Churchill in 1997, and re-elected in both 2000 and 2004. She was known as a hard-working and dedicated MP who always stood up for her constituents. She later worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, advocating and working on behalf of all veterans.
I had the honour of having an office across the hall from Bev, and for years she provided me with guidance, advice, and laughs. For any other MP or staffer, she was known as the unofficial Hill social director. Bev could send us to any meeting or event, and we would leave with much more than we arrived with.
Over the last weeks, former and present colleagues had the honour of sharing messages with Bev. Former party leader Ed Broadbent said it best, that he found in Bev a warm, spontaneous, unpredictable, gutsy, caring woman who fought for what she believed. What more could one want?
Indeed, Bev was strong, passionate and had conviction in everything she did. We all learned from Bev Desjarlais and will carry her with us for all of our lives. On behalf of the NDP, I would like to send our condolences to Bev's family, her three sons, Kris, Steven and Patrick, her grandchildren, and brothers and sisters. God bless them for sharing Bev with us and with Canada.