Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute honour for me to speak to pay tribute to the late prime minister, the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney, upon his demise. He lived an incredible life and I want to honour him today.

There are a number of reasons I felt compelled to speak this evening. Let me begin with probably the most important reason for me. I am a proud Tamil Canadian. I was elected in 2015 to represent the largest Tamil community in Canada, which is Scarborough—Rouge Park. One moment I remember vividly from growing up is when 155 Tamils landed on the shore of St. Shott's in Newfoundland. At that time, it caused a great deal of controversy. As people are aware, Canada has not always been generous toward people seeking asylum on its shores. I could talk about the MS St. Louis, the Komagata Maru and other instances when Canadian generosity fell short.

However, on that particular occasion, the leader of the country, the late prime minister, wanted to ensure they were welcome. That year, when they arrived, the controversy was very loud. People called for the deportation of the refugees. There was a great deal of racism. The prime minister stepped in and said that Canadians needed to show compassion to Tamils.

One of the things he said was that his government would do anything but allow refugees in lifeboats to be turned aimlessly around in the ocean, away from our shores. He said that to think in some way that 155 Sri Lankan Tamils would diminish our citizenship and ruin our immigration policies was not the resilience and strength of Canada. He embodied that strength of Canada by standing up for what was right at that time.

On behalf of the entire Tamil Canadian community, I am absolutely obliged to thank the late prime minister and to honour him for his graciousness. The community is now over 300,000 strong from coast to coast to coast. I really do wish to extend my profound gratitude to the Mulroney family.

His work on apartheid will stand the test of time. As someone who grew up dismayed about what apartheid, racism and human beings can do to each other, I was so impressed as a young person to see a world leader, the leader of Canada, lead the way in fighting apartheid. When the late President Mandela came to Canada, I was able to see him at Queen's Park, and I can tell everyone that this would not have happened without the leadership of the late prime minister. By that, I am always inspired. In politics we can do great things, and he was able to achieve that.

I represent Scarborough—Rouge Park. Pauline Browes, who was the first minister of environment under a Conservative government, served under Prime Minister Mulroney. The work that the prime minister did on the environment is something I am very grateful for, particularly because Pauline Browes is one of the champions of Rouge National Urban Park, an area I represent.

I had the opportunity to meet the late prime minister on my grade 9 trip to Ottawa, right in front of Rideau Hall. We were in two school buses. He talked to us. It was a consequential day in Canadian history, the day that the Meech Lake accord was signed. He found the time that day to say a few words, and I will always cherish that moment.

To Mark, Mila, Caroline, Nicolas and Ben I extend my deepest condolences and share with them that this loss is felt by all of us across Canada.

Gary Anandasangaree

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