Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a British Columbian to express my deepest sympathy for the people of Tumbler Ridge. Innocent lives were lost in an unimaginable tragedy that has shaken a small and deeply connected community to its core.
To the families, friends, classmates, teachers and first responders, I say that they carry a heavy burden of grief that is almost impossible to bear. Nothing can replace the beautiful lives that were taken. They matter, and they will never be forgotten.
In this country, when tragedy strikes one community, it touches us all. Canadians do not turn away. We draw closer. We stand together. We support and love one another. That is who we are, and that is what it means to be Canadian.