Mr. Speaker, ten years ago, we witnessed an attack on our democracy.

The attack began on October 20, 2014, in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, with the murder of a courageous soldier, Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent. Mr. Vincent served his country. He wore the Canadian uniform. He had a family and friends who loved him but lost him. Two days later, there was another attack here on Parliament Hill, and, perhaps worse, at our great memorial to Canadian soldiers.

The terrorist attack of October 22, 2014, took the life of a courageous Canadian, Corporal Nathan Cirillo, who was standing on guard for those who had fallen standing on guard for our country. There he was at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, ambushed and shot, lying bleeding in the arms of a half a dozen courageous Ottawa residents who held him and told him “You are so loved”. Moments later, the life would drain out of his body. Some might have looked at him and said that he was an ordinary Canadian. Certainly, when I saw the picture of him a few days later in the newspaper with his muscles bulging after a trip to the gym, I thought that he could have been like any young Canadian, but he was not. He was not ordinary at all, he was extraordinary, as are every single one of the men and women who put on the uniform of our forces.

The terrorist, who then made his way to Parliament Hill in a carjacked vehicle, burst in through the front door. I remember being in the caucus meeting of the then Conservative government and hearing large crunching sounds, which I learned later to be the repetitive echo of a single gunshot bouncing off the oval-shaped ceiling of the rotunda back down onto the marble floors. That was the first shot inside Parliament, and it was a shot that bore wound, but it could have been so much worse. When this terrorist entered, he planned to cause maximum carnage, but there was someone waiting for him. One of our courageous guards, Samearn Son, saw the gun, grabbed the assailant, pushed the gun downward and took a bullet in the ankle, giving his compatriots enough warning time to draw their own weapons and take cover behind the large limestone pillars that hold Parliament up. Had he not done that, it is almost certain that the gunman would have taken more lives.

We did not know about the story of Samearn Son, because he did not tell anyone. Instead, he quietly hobbled out of the building towards the abandoned hijacked vehicle to see if there were any other terrorists. There may well have been other gunmen at that point taking aim at him, but he fearlessly continued his work. He did not tell anyone what he did, he did no interviews, and the only quote I can find of him from that day was “I'll survive.” He got into an ambulance and made his way to the hospital and quietly went back home to recover with his family. That is the calm, humble, courageous character that embodies the best of Canada. Samearn Son is Canada's son.

The terrorist would proceed through the Hall of Honour. I remember those firecracker sounds going off. We did not know at the time that those were gunshots fired by our security forces, thank God, bringing the terrorist to the ground and ultimately to his deserved fate.

I want to thank each and every one of our security members who fought so hard to protect us while putting their lives at risk on that day: The first responders who arrived quickly on the scene to minimize the damage done and the lives lost, the military members, the RCMP and countless others who protected us all and stood with us on that day. I want to thank all parliamentarians who showed courage and camaraderie in coming together, responding to defend this institution of Parliament and to grieve the loss of those who had defended us.

What we learned on that day is that if we can see over the horizon, it is because we stand on the shoulders of giants, like Corporal Cirillo, like Patrice Vincent, like Samearn Son and like the countless other heroes who defended us on that day. May we remember today, every day, the precious gift that is our parliamentary democracy and the even more precious gift that are those who defend it.

Pierre Poilievre

$204,067.00