Mr. Speaker, it is not only as Leader of the Opposition but as one of the class of 72 who are still in the House that I am pleased to be here today to honour Herb Gray. I know we do not usually mention this, but on an occasion like this it is nice to see in the galleries people like Eugene Whelan, Mitchell Sharp and other people from 1972. It shows the respect we all have for Herb Gray.
I learned of this great honour from the Liberal caucus chairman. When I learned Mr. Gray he was being called before the bar of the House I was a bit alarmed because, as members know, people usually appear before the bar to be admonished by the Chair. I could not imagine what Herb could have done to deserve such an admonishment from the Speaker.
However I then thought of a few reasons. I had the idea of rotating certain members into the chair to share the admonishment because we cannot let you have all the fun, Mr. Speaker.
Here are my suggested categories for the admonishments and the most appropriate members to carry them out. First, the right hon. gentleman could be admonished for his ministerial performance. As minister, Herb Gray received thousands of questions from the opposition that were carefully crafted and rehearsed. He never actually answered a single one. As Leader of the Opposition I would be the appropriate admonisher for this category.
Second, Herb Gray could be admonished as the member for Windsor West. For 40 years he hogged the riding, never sharing it with any of his friends on this side of the House. He never understood that in politics change is healthy. To take the chair for this category I recommend the leader of the NDP. For the majority of elections from 1962 to 2000 her party played the role of bridesmaid in Windsor West and never the bride.
Third, Herb Gray could be admonished for his incredible loyalty to his constituents, his party and his leader. Does he not know this kind of behaviour is no longer in vogue? No one does it any more. Choosing the appropriate candidate to take the chair for this category proved most difficult. There were so many members to choose from that I decided to put the decision to an expert panel: the DRC. The DRC, to be known as the academy for this purpose, struggled with its choice but finally came up with a candidate. As I look at all the hopeful faces in the House it is unfortunate the academy could only choose one member. The lucky winner to take the chair to admonish Herb Gray for his loyalty is the hon. member for Richmond.
Fourth, Mr. Gray could be admonished for promoting a nickname. The recommendation for this category came from heaven. It was an e-mail from the late Mel Torme who raised a copyright issue with our right hon. guest. As we all know, Mr. Torme's vocal talents earned him the nickname the velvet fog. There appears to be concern in the Torme camp that there is potential for confusion and thus copyright infringement with respect to our guest's promotion of the name the Gray fog. Mr. Speaker, the admonishment to cease and desist advocating fog in any way should come directly from you given the clarity and brightness of your rulings and answers.
All kidding aside, the official opposition is honoured to pay tribute to the Right Hon. Herb Gray who competently served the House, his constituents and his country with dignity and grace. He was a fierce opponent in the House but always a gentleman. We wish Herb and his family well in their life after parliament.
There is one thing I regret. I am sorry I will never get a chance to look across at the opposite benches, see Herb standing there and ask him a question. I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him I did not agree with the premise of his question.
