Hon. Scott Tannas: Honourable senators, I rise today to pay tribute to Her Majesty the late Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada and our head of state. On behalf of my colleagues, I wish to express our heartfelt condolences to King Charles III, the Royal Family, to Canadians and to all people of the Commonwealth.

For the last 70 years, she stood alongside the people of Canada as our country developed into a modern — and now a postmodern — nation. When she ascended the throne, Louis St‑Laurent was Prime Minister. Since then, as has been said, she saw 13 Canadian Prime Ministers. In fact, she ascended the throne during the time of Stalin, Churchill, Truman, Mao Zedong and Nehru. What an incredible time for the young Queen to ascend the throne.

Certainly, she has seen her fair share of colourful leadership, being Queen in the time of Castro, Kennedy, Gorbachev, Qaddafi, Idi Amin and many more. She was present through some major milestones in Canadian life: the opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway; the Expo 67 centennial celebration in Montreal; the 1976 Olympics in Montreal; the repatriation of the Constitution; and the Calgary Stampede in 1939 and 1951 as Princess Elizabeth, and again in 1959, 1973 and in 2005. She helped us celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of the Canadian Navy and the RCMP, to name only a few.

She said in Toronto in 2010 that Canada’s development as a nation has been remarkable. This vast, rich and varied country has inspired its own and attracted many others by its adherence to certain values. Some are enriched in law, but I should imagine just as many are simply found in the hearts of ordinary Canadians.

Overall, she visited Canada 22 times and read the Speech from the Throne twice in our former chamber in the Centre Block, in 1957 and in 1977.

While her death was unavoidable, it still came as a shock to us as she has been with us for so long. For the vast majority of Canadians, she is the only sovereign they have ever known. Her image is with us on our currency and in pictures in community halls and public buildings throughout our land. It was just a constant in our lives that she was our Queen.

When listening to the tributes over the last few days, two themes are common: her commitment to service; and how Canadians, the people in the United Kingdom, her other realms, the Commonwealth and around the world respected her. We all know that at the beginning it was highly unlikely that she would be our sovereign. A strange twist of fate with the abdication of Edward VIII changed her story and her life.

In 1936, the Telegraph-Journal called her the most important child in the empire when she was 10 years old. During the Second World War, she enlisted in the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the only military service available to British women at the time, and she was trained to repair and drive heavy trucks. She was the first female member of the Royal Family to serve during wartime. The media gave her the nickname “Princess Auto Mechanic.”

When she became Queen, she committed herself to the service of her people, and this commitment never wavered. She represented the Crown over the decades with grace and dedication. She was a source of stability during political discord and at other difficult times was a source of strength we could collectively tap into. She was both the symbolic and, when required, the tangible safeguard of parliamentary democracy. It was most important during her last address, during the pandemic. She was the reassuring voice in the chaos, with the important message that everything would be okay and that in time we would all meet again.

She visited Alberta, my province, six times. She watched a CFL game where Edmonton beat Winnipeg during the western semifinals. Sorry, Senator Plett.

She met with Indigenous leaders many times. During her last visit in 2005, Highway 2 was renamed Queen Elizabeth II Highway, and the provincial museum of Alberta became the Royal Alberta Museum. It was noted that during that visit it rained almost every day, at times very heavily, but she persevered with the schedule notwithstanding the weather.

This commitment to service and to Canada gained her the respect and admiration of Canadians. Many have wonderful stories about meeting her.

Listening to all my colleagues’ tributes before me and many more from around the world, it is undeniable that Queen Elizabeth II was cherished. It is also clear that the Queen had a soft spot for Canada.

In some of the tributes that have been given so far since her passing, we’ve been reminded of the softer side of Queen Elizabeth, which we glimpsed a few times. In recent years, we saw her take a mission with James Bond during the London Olympics. She had tea with Paddington Bear. She responded with two powerful words to Barack Obama’s mic drop leading up to the Invictus Games.

She will be truly missed.

To our new King, Charles III, we welcome you as our new head of state, and may your reign be fruitful and long. God save the King.