Mr. Speaker, it is a great pleasure and an honour for me to rise in the House today and say a few words to highlight the amazing career of our much appreciated colleague Michel Patrice, the deputy clerk for administration who is retiring in just a few days.
Humbly let me say that I am very impressed by the breadth and diversity of Michel's career, which includes more than 30 years of hard work on Parliament Hill. I am convinced that colleagues will share my admiration.
Michel held a number of positions during his distinguished career. He served as a committee clerk, law clerk and parliamentary counsel, and chief law officer on the Senate side, before offering his services on the House of Commons side with his appointment in 2017 as deputy clerk of the House administration.
Going from the Senate to the House of Commons is a little backward in a lot of cases, but I am sure he learned a lot about the importance of one chamber versus the other. Let us not forget that we are 70%. They are only 30%.
Although I only met Michel in 2019, I feel like I have known him forever. I am sure that many of my colleagues in the House feel the same way.
In addition to his incredible professionalism, Michel has always been a compassionate person who always made himself available despite his busy schedule, which makes a bigger difference than words can describe.
When I was elected as member of Parliament in 2019, my first exchanges with him were warm, courteous and very reassuring.
In 2021, when I assumed my duties as Deputy Speaker, which led me to chair the long-term vision working group on the rehabilitation of Centre Block, Michel ensured that I could pick up where my predecessor left off so that the important work of our committee could continue and that I would be on the same page as my committee colleagues.
I have often called upon his services and, even though he was sometimes not the person responsible for dealing with what I was asking, he helped me on his own initiative. I cannot count the number of times his actions and advice were appreciated and reassuring.
His altruism toward his colleagues, members of Parliament, staffers and employees of all directorates on the Hill knew no bounds. He left nothing to chance and always ensured that we had all the tools we needed to do our jobs.
The mutual respect he and I had for each other was also valuable. In our political arena, no matter the colour of our team's jersey, Michel was a part of it, and he always had our good at heart as parliamentarians and as individuals. I am sure that many of my colleagues are like me and consider Michel a friend.
His commitment, his attachment and his respect for our institution is not only remarkable, but is also an example for all of us.
Thanks to the work of people like him as clerk, we have become better parliamentarians. I thank him for that.
In the 30 years he spent here, Michel lived through different eras, different governments, different challenges and different crises, all of which gave him experience, which served us well in both good times and bad. I thank him for guiding us when we needed his wisdom.
On behalf of myself and all my Conservative caucus colleagues, I want to sincerely thank Michel for his loyal service and wish him all the best in his retirement. We will really miss him.
May the next years be relaxing and filled with beautiful projects that Michel may not have had the time to start yet because this place never really stops.
We wish Michel good luck, and we wish him all the best with his family and loved ones.
Merci, Michel, et bonne retraite.
