Hon. colleagues, I thank you very much for your words in tribute to our friend and colleague, the Hon. Marc Garneau.
He was a man for all seasons., a man of sterling integrity, an adventurer and a Canadian hero.
Anyone who had a chance to talk to Marc realized how accomplished he was. Everything he did was at the highest level of excellence.
He was a scientist, an athlete, a public servant, an opera lover and, as anyone who has read his autobiography, A Most Extraordinary Ride, will know, a gifted writer.
He was also a devoted family man. The last time I spoke to him, a year ago, he told me about this book and what it meant for him to write it for his family. I am halfway through the book, and I can hear Marc's voice as I turn the pages. In particular, I hear his sense of humour when he describes his adventures in space and in politics.
In the book, he recounts where he was for the first moon landing in the summer of 1969. While many of my generation were sitting in front of the television watching a fuzzy picture, Marc Garneau was on a 57-foot sailboat called the Pickle. He was part of a crew of 13 in a race from Newport, Rhode Island, to Cork, Ireland, crossing the Atlantic Ocean. He spoke about floating on a tranquil sea, gazing up at the moon in a brilliant night sky, listening to the radio as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps on the moon's own Sea of Tranquility. It was while he floated on a boat, one of the world's oldest forms of transportation, that the seed was planted for him to one day make his own great voyage, in a ship of another kind, into space.
Marc was a man of great courage and conviction. Like every member of Parliament, he brought his own perspective to this place. He was gifted with impressive intelligence and a wisdom that perhaps came from the silence and tranquility of space. Canadians, especially members of Parliament, have all benefited from that wisdom.
In his final journey, we wish him peace and offer our deepest gratitude. To his family, we present our condolences, and we hope that his extraordinary legacy is a source of comfort and pride.