Madam Speaker, it is with great sadness that I speak in the House today in honour of Harvey Lewis, a strong community leader in Cape Breton—Canso, who passed away this month.
A proud citizen of Louisbourg for all of his life, Mr. Lewis knew what it meant to be community-minded. He served as mayor from 1979 through 1988 and held many other positions of leadership within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. He co-chaired the Louisbourg ’95 Commemoration Society, served as chairman of the Cape Breton school board and held regional positions on boards serving vulnerable populations. Mr. Lewis even worked in Ottawa at the National Research Council during the Second World War, before returning to Louisbourg to join his family business.
On behalf of Cape Breton constituents and members of the House, I offer my sincere condolences to his family and to the community of Louisbourg. Those who knew Mr. Lewis well knew him as a kind, generous and patient man, and as somebody who always thought deeply about what was right. He held firm to those principles. It is my hope that we can carry forward Mr. Lewis's principles about putting community first and thinking deeply about what is right for our communities.