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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 148

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
December 14, 2022 02:00PM
Context: House Hansard - 148 - Dec/14/22
Ms. Rachel Blaney (North Island—Powell River, NDP)
  • Dec/14/22 5:05:16 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am very pleased to rise here today to extend best wishes, happy holidays, merry Christmas to everyone, and a big thanks to everyone around the House from the New Democratic caucus. Of course, that includes all my colleagues. I thank them all for their kind words here today. I know the House leaders and the whips of all parties work very hard to make things flow as well as they possibly can in this place, in sometimes very interesting circumstances. Also, people across Canada may not know, but there are a lot of talented folks in this place who make everything run smoothly with their professional diligence. First of all, I would like to thank the Speaker and his team, who do tremendous work and have very helpful procedural experts in the Clerk's office, the Table, the Journals Branch, the committee staff, the Library of Parliament staff and, of course, all of our incredible pages, who are so good to us. I also want to recognize the Sergeant-at-Arms and his team. They must be doing something right, because one of them, upon retirement, continues to come here two days a week. I thank Darryl for that. There is the parliamentary precinct security, as well as traffic operations, the drivers of the buses, dispatch operators, mailroom staff, and messengers who keep us all connected in various ways. There are the cafeteria staff, the parliamentary restaurant, all the food services and the catering team. Of course there are the amazing maintenance team, the tradespeople of the parliamentary precinct, matériel management and room allocation. They do invisible work, but boy, do we all appreciate it. There is everyone in information services, including telecom, ISSI, printing services and the broadcasting team. There are the people who deal with HR, finance, travel and pay and benefits. Boy, do they help us a lot. There are the folks who document all of our words in Hansard and who translate and interpret them from one language to another. The last two years in the pandemic have brought incredible challenges for everyone, and I am so grateful for the extraordinary work all these people have put in to ensure the House can operate efficiently and effectively. Finally, I want to pay a special tribute to the Clerk, Charles Robert, who is retiring in January after 42 years of service on the Hill. I wish him all the best. I would also like to thank our nurse consultant, Lise Séguin, who will be retiring after 32 years of loyal service. She has always been there for hundreds of members and staff here who have benefited from her incredible care. Of course, a very special thanks go to the NDP whip and House leader's team, who make us look very good on this side of the House. I thank you, Madam Speaker and everyone who works so hard in this place. I wish everyone all the best over the holidays.
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