Hon. Raymonde Saint-Germain: Your Honour, I know how incredibly humble you are and that I am prolonging your agony by rising to pay tribute to you.

In all seriousness though, you deserve all of the tributes that are being paid to you today because you have done such an excellent job as our Speaker, a role that is so very important to our institution.

I pay tribute to you today on behalf of the Independent Senators Group, only three members of which served with you before 2015. For the other 36 members of the group, you have been the only Speaker they have known in this chamber during a particularly complex and demanding time in the history of our institution.

Your Honour, your commitment to public service is an example to us all, and your leadership has been essential in guiding the Senate in its mission to represent all Canadians and to modernize the institution.

[English]

In your opening address to this chamber as Speaker, you started by stating:

Colleagues, our chamber is at a crossroads. We have an opportunity to work together to recreate how this chamber of the Parliament of Canada does its work for Canadians. Truly, we are entering uncharted waters in which we are invited by the government to reinvent ourselves in a less partisan way and fulfill our role, as envisioned under the Constitution, as an independent chamber of sober second thought.

Your Honour, you sailed us through these waters seamlessly, and your legacy as Speaker of the Canadian Senate will live on in our country’s history. You have worked tirelessly to modernize the institution and strengthen the confidence of Canadians in the Senate.

Your previous professional training has also served us well as members of this democratic institution. On the one hand, your legacy as a teacher has made you a great guide in helping new senators better understand the Senate as well as its rules and protocol. From time to time, you have even had to do the same for veteran senators. On the other hand, your legal training has made you a Speaker with a great sense of justice and fairness, and this sense has manifested itself in all your decisions and interventions within this chamber. You have handled this with great courage — the courage to take tough decisions, sometimes not to everyone’s liking.

Outside this chamber, you have acted as an eminent ambassador for our institution. Both within Canada and abroad, along with your wife, Karen, you have represented the Senate with great elegance and finesse, and I have had the pleasure of witnessing that on several occasions.

On a more personal note, I take this opportunity to wish Karen and you a happy retirement. For you and for your family, it will be a chance to finally enjoy each other’s presence more.

Your Honour, you leave behind an impressive legacy, and your contribution to Canadian democracy and public service will never be forgotten.

Thank you and congratulations on your outstanding public service!