Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Thornhill.

As the Conservative Party of Canada's political lieutenant for Quebec, it is a privilege for me to rise in the House this evening to pay tribute to an outstanding Canadian and a proud Quebecker. I am speaking, of course, about the former prime minister of Canada, the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney. February 29, 2024, will go down in history as the day that an extraordinary man left this world.

The “boy from Baie‑Comeau” represented many of the groups that built this country. To start with, his family came from Irish Catholic stock, and they were also English-speaking. Nevertheless, the Mulroneys attended mass in French and lived in a predominantly francophone small town. Little wonder he had such a strong command of the language of Molière. That might also be why he got along so well with everyone. In hindsight, it is easy to remember him as a much-loved prime minister, though it might not have been so obvious toward the end of his time in office. I am sure that even his most vocal opponents would say the same thing today, and this is what we must and will remember most about him: He was a gentleman above all.

If the measure of a man is how he treats others, it is easy to see why we have lost a giant. It is also easy to see why his treatment of others was so remarkable. We have heard thousands of moving tributes from people of every political stripe, from coast to coast and around the world. We have heard about his kindness, freely given and expecting nothing in return. His was a profound, authentic, warm-hearted kindness rarely seen in this place, where the chill of political quarrels can hold sway. That is how he won Canadians over, securing the largest majority in our history. What his policies and the risks he took had in common was that they rallied people around shared values of justice and doing the right thing. He had the courage to stand up for what he believed in, even when it was not politically popular.

With all his heart, he wanted to include Quebeckers in the Canadian Constitution, with honour and enthusiasm. He wanted to stop the suffering and discrimination in South Africa. With all his heart, he wanted to do what was right and just. That is why we feel such an outpouring of emotion today. Canadians and Quebeckers have just lost someone who was truly good, someone who truly embodied the golden rule of treating others as we would want to be treated. This is in stark contrast to today's political environment. It is almost unbelievable to think that this way of being, this particular way of engaging in politics, would be possible today, let alone that it would be a winning strategy. For him, however, it was not an election strategy. It was simply who he was. That was Brian Mulroney.

I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Mulroney on several occasions, all of which I will never forget. I can personally attest to the fact that he was the kind, larger-than-life character we have heard so much about. I can also attest to the fact that his legacy of kindness will stand the test of time. It is a legacy of moral rectitude, a legacy of altruistic efforts to make things better not only for his fellow citizens, but for all of humanity. He certainly did not always live up to the high standards he set for himself, but history will retain little trace of his shortcomings. In fact, history will instead retain rich memories of the person he was.

On behalf of Quebec, the Conservative Party, all Canadians and, above all, on behalf of humanity, thank you, Prime Minister.

Pierre Paul-Hus

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