Mr. Speaker, on January 7, Canada and music lost a virtuoso, legend and hero to millions of air drummers the world over.
Neil Peart, drummer and lyricist for Rush, succumbed to glioblastoma after a three and a half year fight and tragically only four and a half years after Rush's final concert.
Rush was a band that was universally loved in Quebec and across Canada. The band recorded some famous albums in Morin-Heights, in the Laurentians, and put on one of its most legendary concerts at the Montreal Forum.
A member of the Order of Canada and of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Neil Peart was generally recognized as the best rock drummer in the world and the driving force behind one of the most successful touring bands of all time.
I offer our condolences to his family and all his fans in between the bright lights and the far, unlit unknown.
I thank him for his words and his music.