Mr. Speaker, today I would like to pay tribute and give congratulations to one of the most important individuals in my life, my father. My dad, Gary Bragdon, after more than 50 years of dedicated hard work, will be retiring from the Nackawic pulp mill this weekend. He worked tirelessly to provide for his wife and his four children.
His metal lunch bucket became an important symbol for me during my campaign to be a member of this House. It serves as a constant reminder of those I represent. They are the ones who carry the buckets, work in our mills and our factories, wait on our tables, truck our food, harvest our natural resources, run small businesses, fish our waters, grow our food, and literally keep our land. They are the people who in large part make Canada what it is, and the people who will drive Canada's economy into recovery and back into prosperity.
I keep my father's bucket in my office in Ottawa as a constant reminder of who sent me here as their representative.
I congratulate my dad on his retirement, and I assure him that on this side of the House we will remember those who carry the buckets.