Lost his last election, in 2011, with 19% of the vote.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, my Canada includes Quebec and my friend opposite, even though he does not think Canada is a great and wonderful country. I am only a modest woodsman, but I fear he may have been hit on the head by a piece of wood. I cannot find the right words. It is great for me, I feel very strongly for that part of the country, and there is no problem.
Speech From The Throne September 25th, 1997
Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure for me to share my time with the hon. member for Leeds—Grenville.
It is an honour for me to be in this rather august Chamber representing the great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke. My duty is to articulate the concerns of my constituents, to be their advocate. But in a broader sense we as federal members of Parliament have an even greater obligation, and that obligation is greater than to our own political parties. That obligation is to our country.
Our mission is not merely the preservation of political power but to harness the awesome strength that we have been given and channel it toward the perpetuation of freedom, peace, prosperity and unity. We must not bicker among ourselves when the future of our country hangs in the balance.
Our strength as a nation will be immeasurably enhanced if we continue to foster actively an environment that is conducive to achieving even greater unity as a nation. We must all be invigorated by our triumphs of the past, by the magic of the present and by our hopes and dreams of the future.
It is the endless possibilities of the future that we as parliamentarians must look toward by generously accepting new people, heartily believing in new ideas and boldly encouraging innovation. We must accept the value of dissent and daring and savour courageous controversy as a hallmark to courageous change.
It is necessary to remember that in order to achieve this vision for the future we must allow those blessed with the talent to reach for a higher calling, a higher destiny, on their own merit. It is equally important to remember that we must help those who through no fault of their own cannot help themselves.
There are some people who argue that the principal function of government is to clear the decks, clear the obstacles out of the way of the strong and the cream will rise to the top, whether that cream be rich and powerful individuals or rich and powerful regions of the country. This is wrong.
I unquestionably defy anyone who expounds the survival of the fittest model of living. That may be the basis by which we describe the process of evolution, but a government must associate itself with a higher moral and philosophical order. A country as blessed as Canada should be able to somehow find room at the table for the hungry, shelter for the homeless, work for the idle, care for the elderly and infirmed and hope for the destitute.
Some people say that we should not care about the other people, that we should treat them with disdain, that we should charge on and do our own thing. We must remember that we are a family. We are one family and we must stick together. We must share both benefits and burdens, strife and success fairly and equitably for the good of all.
Personally speaking, I am one from a family of ten. I have five sisters and four brothers. We do not always agree on everything, but at the end of the day we come together. We are one. No family, no political party, no province and no country which ignores its troubled regions and troubled peoples while watching others thrive and prosper can call itself justified, decent or responsible.
It is the duty of any political party that wants to be given the mandate to lead our country in the future to reach out to all people in a non-partisan fashion. It is precisely this ability that marks the signature of a great leader. All great leaders have had an uncanny ability to take with them not only members of their own party, not only selected individuals, but with a unique combination of courage, determination, introspection and imagination an entire country.
However, imagination is no substitute for reality, and the reality is this: when citizens stand together, we feel stronger as a country. My son Tyler, who is 12, goes to a French school in Pembroke, Ontario. I think this is wonderful, but what is not so wonderful is that some Canadians would destroy our country for purely selfish reasons.
If need be we must join a crusade to keep this country together. We must turn lethargy into energy. We must counter misguided passion with focused conviction. We must overwhelm narrow minded nationalism with broad minded federalism. We must overpower this scurrilous innuendo with the unmasked truth.
The truth of the matter is that we live in a country called Canada which is acknowledged as the greatest country in the world in which to live. This acknowledgement comes as a result of our tremendous strengths. We are a very decent nation, capable of understanding, compromise and diplomacy. We are also a very accomplished nation. It was a Canadian who discovered insulin. It was a Canadian who invented the telephone, although considering the fact that I have two teenagers, I am not so sure about that invention for the time being.
It was a Canadian who won two gold medals for speed skating at the Olympic games.
It was a Canadian who conceived of the notion of emergency forces, not for war but for peace. These are but a few of the accomplishments that Canadians have come forward with to leave a lasting legacy.
However this is not enough. We must do more. We must continue to work to make sure that every yesterday is a vibrant and beautiful dream of happiness and every tomorrow is a magnificent vision of hope. We must continue to reach out to our fellow citizens, strengthen our bond and our identity as Canadians. We must continue to pursue excellence on behalf of our country Canada. We must continue to relentlessly challenge not only our own standards but those of the international community. We must continue to make our Canadian voice heard distinctly and bravely among other nations in the world.
As their federal member of Parliament, my duty is to galvanize the will of the citizenry of the great riding of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, to represent their voice here on Parliament Hill bravely, with intense passion, fervent conviction and undying and unyielding determination so that we may travel through the 1990s and into the next millennium proud of our noble heritage, supported by our family and friends, enriched by our diversity of talent, invigorated by our unity of vision, empowered by our infinite hope, our undying optimism and our indomitable spirit. This is my duty and I will do so without fear and without favour.
I ask all members of Parliament to join with me in my resolve. For a newer, brighter, more beautiful frontier is within our grasp. Let us not fail at this critical time. Let us, yes, sprint forward together and continue to build a great country called Canada.
I close with the immortal words of Longfellow when he said, let us work and leave behind us footprints in the sands of time.
Longue vie au Canada.
Long live Canada.