Madam Speaker, in each of our lives we have those moments when we remember where we were when we first heard about significant events. Last Thursday, I was at the Kelowna International Airport, having just gone through security, when I noticed a missed call from a member of my team and then a text message to tell me the news. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our Queen and head of state since 1952, had sadly passed away. As I walked through the airport, I could hear the whispers as others learned the breaking news.
It was only the day before, on September 7, in Kelowna that I hosted a Queen's jubilee pin and local recognition-of-service medallion ceremony. The Canadian Platinum Jubilee emblem was created to mark the 70th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's accession to the throne, a historic milestone in the enduring relationship between Canada and the Crown. At the end of the ceremony, we finished by standing and singing O Canada and God Save the Queen. Little did we know then that it would likely be the last time God Save the Queen would be played in our community.
For most in Kelowna—Lake Country, we have never known a Canada without the Queen. The first official rendition of God Save the King after the Queen's passing was sung at the end of a memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II at St Paul's Cathedral in London on September 9. We are currently in a national period of mourning, which lasts for 10 days. I will be attending the national commemorative ceremony in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on behalf of the citizens of Kelowna—Lake Country.
Through seven decades and 12 prime ministers, she represented an island in the stream of our ever-changing culture and history in Canada. The Queen represented the eternal values of dutiful service, quiet strength and genuine kindness. The Queen often talked about the importance to her of faith, family and friendship.
I recently spoke with Bob Hayes, former president of the Kelowna branch of the Okanagan Historical Society, who remembers when the Queen came to Kelowna on May 6, 1971. He recalled how in Kelowna's City Park there were very large wooden stands, which were a regular fixture there at the time, and more were added for the event. Viewers could tell when the Queen was arriving as they could see her cavalcade coming across the Okanagan Lake bridge into Kelowna. The Queen made a brief speech to the large crowd and then took time to walk around speaking to people. In 1983, the Queen landed at the Kelowna International Airport while on another British Columbia visit.
It was 45 years after the Queen's visit to downtown Kelowna that we received a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, now the Prince and Princess of Wales. I was out of town at the time, but my husband and son got to see them, as did many others in the area as they toured around.
Let us keep Queen Elizabeth II and what she stood for in our memories. God save the King.