Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I advise the House of Commons that on November 19, 2015, Newfoundland and Labrador's pre-eminent songwriter Ronald Joseph Hynes died at the age of 64, following a second bout of throat cancer.
Ron Hyne's body of work, from Sonny's Dream, to the St. John's Waltz, to Godspeed, captured the spirit of our people and inspired a generation of musicians, artists, and actors.
Since his passing, he has been publicly and spontaneously feted in parks and pubs throughout the province, and he continues to be celebrated.
His work was fostered through performing arts grants, his work on CBC, and other public arts funding. Our lives are richer for it and for him.
While his life was not a model for governance, it is a lesson for all parliamentarians that the heart of a just society is the freedom to live, love, succeed, fail, and be redeemed.
Godspeed to Ron Hynes. May he pass into the source of all that is good.