44th Parl. 1st Sess.

September 15, 2022 10:00AM

Sep/15/22 5:05:20 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, with profound sadness I am here to pay tribute to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. However, on a positive note, I first want to note the 18th anniversary of Melanie Namespetra, who has worked with me on the Hill as a constituency assistant and legislative assistant. We have had a whole series of wonderful moments over 18 years of my 20 years here. I want to thank her and her family for all the work they have done on behalf of Windsor, Ontario, Essex and Canada. I want to offer my condolences to the royal family. The Queen was a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother. The royal family is certainly going through a lot of emotions, even recognizing the fact that it has to share this moment with the entire planet. It is very difficult doing so in the public eye. I wish them the best during this difficult time. I also want to thank Drew Dilkens, the mayor of Windsor. Our mayor is showing leadership in including the public. There will be a public viewing of the Queen's funeral at 5:45 a.m. on September 19 outdoors at City Hall Square. I want to thank Mayor Drew Dilkens for doing that. As well, there will be a public memorial service at All Saints' Anglican Church at 6 p.m. It is right next to that area. People are asked to RSVP for that. Of particular note, it will be led by the Essex and Kent Scottish regiment to recognize that this year is the 80th year since Dieppe. The Essex and Kent Scottish regiment played a leading part in those operations and suffered significant losses in their duty during the Second World War. I will talk a bit about that now, with regard to the Queen as well as connections as to why this is important for our country and our Parliament. I will share a little about my experiences too. I had the chance to meet the Queen in Toronto. I will talk a bit about that later. I want to note that some of my family came from England. We grew up at the kitchen table hearing experiences about what took place during the war, what took place with the royal family and a number of different connections. My biological grandfather was John Clifford Addison. I did not know him. I have his medals, his soccer medals and war medals. He died on the HMS Scorpion in the fall of Burma. It was lucky that my grandmother, Irene Attwood, was able to marry Fred Attwood. He served in the Royal Navy on the Ark Royal and the MacCallum. My grandmother, Irene, and my mother, Jean Masse, Jean Attwood at that time, survived the bombing raids in London. My mother just gifted me last year a scrapbook of the Queen that she made during that time and during her teen years. There are lots of papers and news articles going back to the start, 70 years ago, that were published in the British papers, official programmes and so forth. I will be sharing them on the 16th on my social media. I took some pictures of them. It is interesting, through the eyes of my mother at that time, to see all the work that went into this collection of materials. I think that experience was translated later on with better understanding. Fred Atwood was a merchant and I mentioned he served in the Royal Navy. He spent a lot of time serving his country, but he came to Canada. I grew up with big band music playing in the background sitting at the kitchen table with my grandmother making scones and having tea and talking about life in England. Recognizing Her Majesty's commitment during wartime was part of the discussions. It was a continuation of the life they had in England which extended over into Canada. It is important that we recognize the duration of Her Majesty's tenure. It lasted so long. During her 70-year reign there were 179 individuals who served as her prime ministers, including 15 British and 12 Canadian prime ministers. Her first British prime minister, Winston Churchill, was born in 1874. The last British prime minister to be appointed by the Queen was Liz Truss, who was born 101 years later, in 1975. She was appointed by the Queen just two days before her death. As I mentioned, I had the chance to meet Her Royal Highness when she visited Toronto. As a child, I was in Windsor, Ontario, when the Queen visited. Like many of my age, we were on the side of the road as she drove by and waved. It was an interesting experience as a kid. Later on, the Queen participated in a number of ceremonies in Windsor. Obviously, with a name like Windsor, there is a connection that is very strong. As well, we are a border city that fought significantly in the War of 1812. We are also the place of the Underground Railroad. When the British Empire finally got rid of slavery, many people came to our area for freedom from the United States. There was a recognition that it was a better place. Slavery is still one of those issues that languishes. I am hoping that the new King recognizes some of the suffering that still takes place from the awful state of slavery over generations. However, we have those connections. Later on, it was Jack Layton who was supposed to attend a luncheon for the Queen at the Royal York. Jack, the former member for Toronto—Danforth, could not make it, so I got the call to represent him. It was a 90°C summer day, and I was staying at a hotel. I will try to describe it so that people get an idea of what one goes through. For people who do not know me, I am not a very formal person. A tuxedo was required. I am not very good at protocol either. However, for me to get into a tuxedo was an accomplishment in itself, let alone doing it during a blackout, which took place at that time. I had to go down the hotel stairs, 11 storeys in 90°C weather, walk over to the Royal York where about 100 guests huddled in the dark. At the time, we were to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh. We were sent a protocol sheet, which was much needed for people like me, to know what to expect. We were to get in line, and when our turn came, we would walk to the Queen, do a certain type of greeting and then move to His Royal Highness. We would then move to another room for the event. Well, I am terrible at protocol. I got the right greeting for the Queen but when I got to His Royal Highness, I froze, and people were behind me. I said, “Hey man”, and he smiled and laughed, and then I moved on. The moment was kind of special, because I was there to try to be as respectful of the protocol as possible, but it did not matter. We then moved to the next room for lunch where the Queen spoke. It was interesting, because she talked about Canada. She did not talk about anything other than Canada. She talked about the visits she had made across our country, whether it be the Northwest Territories, British Columbia or the east coast. She mentioned Windsor as well. We had that type of exchange and then the event was over. It was interesting, because I had grown up with this at the kitchen table. Another interesting thing is that she was the most travelled world leader, having travelled to 117 countries and almost 56 Commonwealth nations. She was also the first monarch to visit West Germany, China, South Africa and other African nations and almost every corner of Canada during her 22 visits. Listening to someone with that type of experience is always interesting in itself, and then having these different connections was really important. I think the kind of common element in what was taking place in Canada was very special. As I mentioned, her reign was not perfect. One of the things that I am hoping to see is some reconciliation with our first nations. I am hoping that King Charles III does that and will recognize that there has to be more, which is necessary to have reconciliation. It is one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's points, and I am looking forward to that. I think it would help not only myself but maybe young Canadians as well as we try to move forward with a connection to the monarchy in our country, but it needs to come with recognition of what has taken place in the past. In closing, I send my condolences to the royal family.

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