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Decentralized Democracy

Member of Parliament

Ziad Aboultaif

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Edmonton Manning
  • Alberta
  • Voting Attendance: 64%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $109,026.29

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 97 - Sep/16/22
Mr. Ziad Aboultaif (Edmonton Manning, CPC)
  • Sep/16/22 11:22:23 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, Canadians' hearts are heavy as we remember our Queen, Elizabeth II. During her visits to this country, she touched so many lives. To the world, she was the Queen of England. She was also very much the Queen of Canada. Even though they had never met the Queen, she impacted my wife's parents in a deeply personal way. Like so many have done, Sam and Rabha came to Canada as immigrants from a country outside the British Commonwealth. They did not grow up with Canadian traditions. Having a monarch was new to them. They were seeking a new life, a better life, and were determined to embrace all that Canada could offer. They had seen news coverage of the royal visit to Canada. When their daughter was born on the anniversary of the Queen's coronation, my father-in-law insisted that their new daughter be named Elizabeth, in honour of Her Majesty. They wrote to the Queen at Buckingham Palace to tell her of the event. In the past week, thousands of people around the world have paid tribute to Elizabeth II. I am not sure there is anything I could say that would add to those words. She was an inspiration to all of us in public life, leading by example and following traditions she learned as a child. She understood the concepts of service and duty in ways that we would, too, all want to emulate. One of the Queen's strengths was her humility. The word “queen” brings to mind someone exalted, above ordinary people, yet as thousands of Canadians who have met her can tell us, Elizabeth II was deeply concerned with and interested in people, no matter where they came from or their social status. Her Christian faith infused her interactions with others. Our nation has lost someone who, for most of us, has been a constant presence in all of our lives. We knew her death was inevitable at some point, but we secretly believed that she would live forever. In this period of mourning, we feel somewhat adrift on an uncharted ocean. We are not alone in those feelings. Elizabeth II was not just a queen, not just the head of the Commonwealth and not just a symbol of enduring stability in a turbulent world. She was also a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother, and her loss is felt by her family more deeply than by any of us. For King Charles III and the rest of the royal family, the hearts of Canadians are with them in this time of mourning. I thank them for sharing their mother and grandmother with us. Canada and the world are richer because of her. May God comfort them as they mourn.
464 words
  • Hear!
  • Rabble!
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