Mr. Speaker, six years ago, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was killed in a parking lot in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu simply because he was wearing his Canadian military uniform.
Corporal Nathan Cirillo, a 24-year-old father, was gunned down while standing guard at the foot of the Canadian National War Memorial, which pays tribute to our brave veterans. The killer would then enter Parliament to sow terror, but was very courageously neutralized by our security officers, for which we are eternally grateful.
These vicious attacks perpetrated by people who were radicalized by Islamic extremism remind us of how vulnerable we are. Canadians showed remarkable resilience in the face of those attacks. The next day, all parliamentarians were in the House to get on with business and keep our democracy alive. Today, let us pay tribute to these two Canadian heroes and let us continue to proudly uphold their values of freedom, commitment and duty, which are pillars of our Canadian identity.