Hon. Percy Mockler: Honourable senators, it is with great sadness that I rise today to pay tribute to an extraordinary woman, a friend, a proud Acadian, New Brunswicker and Canadian, for her leadership and for always being there to help the most vulnerable. Claudette Bradshaw passed away on Saturday after a long and courageous battle against cancer. New Brunswick has lost a great champion, an unprecedented icon of the Canadian Parliament.

Minister Bradshaw and I had the same social portfolios in the early 2000s, she for the federal government and I for New Brunswick, under the direction of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Premier Bernard Lord respectively.

[English]

Madam Bradshaw was a great ally, and we also had another common denominator with our files: Both of us had personal experience with welfare and its challenges. Claudette Bradshaw was remarkable.

[Translation]

Honourable senators, her desire to help her community began nearly 50 years ago with the founding of Headstart in Moncton. This initiative was aimed at meeting the urgent needs of the region’s most vulnerable residents.

Like me, Claudette Bradshaw always strove to make our region, our province and our country a better place to live, work, and raise our children and, above all, to help the most vulnerable. Claudette Bradshaw was a woman of principle, a woman of strong values. She always demonstrated great loyalty to her community.

[English]

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien described Claudette as a shining example of someone who dedicated her life to the service of others. For my part, I would also add that many people, many families, have benefited from her hard work and dedication. She found it an honour to serve the community. She was a tireless advocate for early intervention services.

Honourable senators, there’s no doubt in my mind that she changed the lives of many New Brunswickers and Canadians. Her lifelong dedication to assisting those in need had an immense impact on countless Canadians from coast to coast to coast. Claudette was very proud of her family: Christopher, Nicholas and her spouse, Doug.

[Translation]

I offer my deepest condolences to her family.

[English]

Honourable senators, as I conclude, Winston Churchill once said:

. . . it is better to be both right and consistent. But if you have to choose—you must choose to be right.

Honourable senators, I have personally witnessed that Minister Bradshaw was always right, and she was always consistent in defending the most vulnerable.

[Translation]

Claudette, I tip my hat to you. Rest in peace.

Thank you.

Hon. Percy Mockler: Honourable senators, I have the honour to table, in both official languages, the third report of the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance, which deals with Supplementary Estimates (C) for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2022, and I move that the report be placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.

I would like to acknowledge, on behalf of the steering committee of National Finance, all members of the National Finance Committee for their dedication and hard work.

[Translation]

Furthermore, all members of the committee join me in thanking the clerk, Mireille Aubé, and the entire support team for their dedication to the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance.

(On motion of Senator Mockler, report placed on the Orders of the Day for consideration at the next sitting of the Senate.)

[English]