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Chris Lewis

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Essex
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 68%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $172,107.39

  • Government Page
  • Sep/16/22 11:26:17 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, as great as it is to be back in the House, it is obviously a sad day. It is a sad day when we need to come back to the House to truly celebrate all the Queen did for Canada, and truthfully, what she continues to do for Canada and the world. I suppose I will then retract my statement to say what an exciting and fabulous day this is. What an honour it is for me to stand here today, on behalf of the amazing folks of Essex, to speak to her presence and all that she did, and to all that she represented. So much has already been said, so I am not going to repeat the things so many great folks have said in the House. I will start by saying that my thoughts and prayers, as well as those of the people of Essex, are with the royal family and all the people she represented. If her hope, passion and compassion over her 96 years do not give some energy or put a smile on the face of Canadians, then they need to take a hard look in the mirror and realize what she brought to the world is something so unique and heartwarming, that we could all take a page out of her playbook. I guess I really did not realize the impact she had on folks until I was honoured to present so many fine folks from Essex and surrounding areas with the Queen's Jubilee pins. I previously had zero idea of the impact she had had, not only older folks but also on young ones as well. To have the honour to put the Queen's Jubilee pin on somebody, and have them literally cry on my shoulder and say it was the greatest honour of their life, blew my mind. That is when I realized her impact. Only three days later, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II passed away. I kind of think it is by design. I am going to speak very quickly to something a lot of Canadians do not know, and which probably most of my colleagues do not even realize. I am a very proud United Empire Loyalist, a UEL. I spoke with Heather Crewe just two days ago and asked her to give me some ideas and thoughts on what the Queen meant to the UEL. I want to share a few thoughts from my community of Essex to bring it into perspective. I will also share something pretty unique and neat with the House shortly. Heather sent me a briefing. The bicentennial branch of the United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada was founded in 1984 and derives its name from the 200th anniversary of the final evacuation of Loyalist refugees from Manhattan in 1784. Loyalists from across the 13 colonies had gathered on Manhattan Island, which, at the time, was the last stronghold of the British following the American Revolution. In 1983, a handful of Empire United Loyalist holders from the Windsor-Essex region began to discuss the formation of a local UELAC branch. They were encouraged in those efforts by John Chard, who was a member of the dominion council and editor of the Loyalist Gazette, which I get basically every month. The first general meeting of the new branch took place on May 31, 1984, in the Windsor Public Library. Charter members were Sharon Kominar, Marie Gordon, Gwendolyn Malkin, Jean Walton, Meryl Courtenay, Eleanor MacDonald, Donna Harvey, Alice Pollock and Margaret Lewis. Margaret Lewis was my grandmother. She was absolutely instrumental, and she adored the Queen. My late grandmother passed away just a few years ago. If it would have been possible, she would have had a Queen's Jubilee pin put on her lapel. Today, the bicentennial branch serves Windsor, Essex County, Chatham, Kent and Michigan, however our members can be found throughout North America. Most members have family ties with the Loyalists who settled this area in the years following the American Revolution, although some members have proven Loyalist ancestors from other parts of Canada. Heather went on to say that one in six Canadians actually have ties to the Loyalists, and most do not realize that they do. Ontario's coat of arms was adopted in 1909, and it illustrates Ontario's ties to England and its loyalty to Canada. The deer, moose and bear are the most common mammals indigenous to Ontario. The Latin motto on the coat of arms reads, “Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet”, which translates to, “Loyal she began, loyal she remains”. This is in reference to the Loyalist ties of the province's early settlers. I am so excited to be here today, not because of her passing, but because of the opportunity to speak to an individual woman who has done so much good for Canada. I do my best to do what I believe she exemplified, and that is to leave the world a better place than we found it. She did that time and time again. We can see it through the tears. We can see it through the smiles. We can see it through the laughter, and we see it through the respect. It is remarkable that through her life she brought so much to this world, and what is particularly remarkable is that, through her death, she certainly exemplified exactly that. In closing, it has been an honour to speak. My thoughts and prayers are with the royal family in all aspects going forward. Godspeed the Queen. God save the King, and God bless Canada.
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Madam Speaker, it truly is an honour to stand here today. I am going to do my best to get through my speech in support of Bill C-224. I really had a remarkable and emotional weekend, diving into and having so many conversations with so many colleagues from the past. I congratulate the member of Parliament for Longueuil—Charles-LeMoyne for bringing this bill forward. Before yesterday I had never spoken to the member. In a short phone call, one quickly finds out someone's personality or where their heart is at, and I found out how alike we actually are. I send my congratulations to the member, and I thank her very much, not only for asking me to second the bill, but also for the opportunity to speak to this today. Preparing for this speech brought back a ton of memories. It should be the easiest speech for me to make, but it is one of the toughest. The first thing I would say is that the service of the House, serving the people who sent us to the House, is completely like firefighters serving the people of their communities, in that just as firefighters run to put out a fire, so do the people of the House. It is truly all about service and not about the job. I was a firefighter from 1995 to 2002. It is in my blood, being badge number 70. Some of my fondest memories were at the fire hall. In fact, the day I was married, I was dropped off at the church in a fire truck, and I wore these very same dress blues, but I will not lie to the House and say that they have not been taken out a little at the hips. At my wedding, I was surrounded by many of my colleagues wearing their dress blues. I could not be much prouder to be standing here today, and I would not be standing here today if it were not for some of the amazing folks that allowed me the opportunity to get there. I need to acknowledge Chief Sunderland, who hired me; Deputy Chief Dawson, who was a role model; Station Captain Kratz; Station Captain Brando; Captain Rankin; Captain Allsop; Captain Carther; Captain Stannard; Captain Boughazale; and many other fire department friends, the firefighters who I served with. I would be remiss if I did not thank the member for Cariboo—Prince George. I really truly believe that his hard work moving this bill forward in the last Parliament got it to where it is today. I thank him very much for all his dedication and hard work. I also want to thank the member for Barrie—Innisfil, who also was a firefighter, who gave me help in giving me an opportunity to speak to this. Of course, I have to acknowledge the IAFF, the International Association of Fire Fighters, as they are in Ottawa this week for their conference. Just yesterday, I spoke to Chief Quennell. He is the fire chief for Kingsville, Ontario. I said, “Chief, give me some thoughts. Talk to me about what is going on.” He said that firefighters are too proud to let others know when they are suffering, so oftentimes, specifically in the times of cancer, we find out about their passing afterward. How true is that? What they really care about is knowing that their family will be taken care of after they are gone. The advocacy to let their families know there is support and benefits for them after their death is vital. He also spoke specifically about the awareness, and, as was very eloquently said by the member who introduced the bill, that could be as simple as bunker gear. We as volunteers take our bunker gear home with us. We leave it in the back of our vehicles. Our kids put our fire helmets on, and we wrap them up in our fire jackets, not even thinking about the carcinogens that may be in them. At the end of the day, I think about one specific fire I was at with many of my colleagues. It was a plastics fire. The smoke was just above our heads, and there was no wind. It was stagnant. Some suggest a firefighter can wear SCBA, a self-contained breathing apparatus, for hours on end while fighting a fire, but it is quite frankly not doable. We understand, as firefighters, everything that comes with the job and the consequences that come with the job. This bill will raise that awareness that Chief Quennell spoke about from the very beginning. This is going to be a tough one for me, but I will get through it. I would like to talk about firefighter Darrell Ellwood. First and foremost, I thank his family for allowing me to share this story. Darrell Ellwood was a Kingsville firefighter who then went on to serve in the city of Windsor. Darrell lit up the room everywhere and anywhere he went. He lived at the fire hall with his wife Kelly, who was the dispatcher. I remember many evenings sitting around what we called the Achilles, which is an inflatable boat, long after the fire was out. He would be making jokes and bringing us all to tears with his laughter and his smile. I spoke to his daughter Jenny on Saturday. It was emotional for me and she was the tough one. She said, “Dad will be with you when you speak. I know this. He has shown himself to our family since his passing.” If Darrell is here, I would like to welcome him to the House of Commons. In the fire department world, we have something called the right-hand rule or the left-hand rule. When opening a door, depending which way the door opens, we follow the left hand or we follow the right hand because the smoke is so thick and the fire is so hot, we do not want to lose our way. With that rule, we always put a hand on the shoulder of the person ahead of us. I know Darrell's hand is on the shoulders of firefighters across North America and, quite frankly, the world today. He loved his job, but mostly, he loved the people who he worked with. Jenny told me he was a passionate champion for health and safety. Is that not ironic? He passed away from multiple myeloma on Christmas Day of 2011. He was laid to rest on January 14, 2012. He was young at the age of 50. I will be 46 pretty soon, and I keep that in perspective. His celebration of life brought firefighters from many departments to say goodbye. I know because I was one of them. Ironically, this bill also calls for January to be named firefighter cancer awareness month. Darrell left behind his parents Bud and Marie, his wonderful wife Kelly, and his children, Jenny, Ian and Adam. His legacy lives on through them. I also want to state that the spouses of firefighters are our support. I have a few last thoughts. Jenny also told me on Saturday that her father was asked, if he had known he would pass away at the age of 50, would he have done this job again? His very emphatic, simple answer was yes. In closing, I want to recite the Firefighter's Prayer: When I am called to duty, God, whenever flames may rage;Give me the strength to save some life, whatever be its age.Help me to embrace a little child before it's too late Or save an older person from the horror of that fate. Enable me to be alert and hear the weakest shout, And quickly and efficiently to put the fire out.I want to fill my calling and to give the best in me,To guard my every neighbour and protect his property. And if, according to your will, I am to lose my life;Please bless with your protecting hand my children and my wife. To my brothers and sisters, and their spouses or partners, we thank them, we respect them, we support them, we love them and we salute them.
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