Mr. Speaker, it is truly a privilege to stand here today in commemoration of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, on behalf of the residents of Red Deer—Lacombe.

There are things that we always say to folks, such as wishing them a successful life and a long life. Rarely do we see people get both. Her Majesty the Queen certainly had a long life, and through her 70 years as the monarch, and her years prior to that as a princess, she certainly has been impactful. She was probably the most well-known person in the world, not just for a brief period of time, but for most of her life.

In her lifetime, the Queen witnessed the Dominion of Canada emerge from the chaos of the world wars, only to grow and become a fully-fledged nation. Despite these bold new steps, our ties to the crown have remained strong. Why would they not? If the role of the Crown is one of public service and duty of care to God and country, the Queen as monarch has surely fulfilled all of her royal duties, not only to her home in England, but also to the Commonwealth at large.

After the premature death of her father the late King George VI in 1952, the throne was hers. Just like that, at the tender age of 25, she was the Queen of seven independent nations and the head of the Commonwealth itself. A daunting responsibility if there ever were one, and that would go for any would-be sovereign, notwithstanding one so young, yet she excelled in her role.

A portrait of stability, Her Majesty guided the Commonwealth through many difficult years without sullying the reputation and prestige of the institution. In fact, the Crown survived the end of the British Empire, devolution and the troubles in Northern Ireland, among many other things, which all could have easily derailed a weaker ruler.

Through all of that, Queen Elizabeth II has emerged as the longest-reigning British monarch, eclipsing even her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria. Even more impressive, she was the second-longest reigning sovereign in world history, with only Louis XIV of France serving longer than her. With that many years on the throne, her popularity only seemed to increase, drawing from a pool of public confidence. In essence, she has left the Crown glimmering, untarnished by the events that would have derailed the career of many others.

Among Her Majesty's responsibilities as head of state was to partake in many international tours and delegations. This role brought her to Canada 20 times, both as the official head of state and, before this, as a princess when she visited in 1951.

A constituent in my riding, Sonja, vividly recalls listening to the queen's coronation in 1953 on a battery-operated radio as everyone in the nation gathered to hear the news, and she was very impressed at the time with Canada's new monarch. She would later attend the Queen's second trip to Edmonton, in 1959, to watch the parade on Whyte Avenue, an event she describes as one of the highlights of her youth. Sonja now has the unique distinction of having witnessed her third monarch, this one being King Charles III, and while royal visits do not typically incite the same excitement as they once did, royal visits and news still garner a particular amount of attention and excitement across the country, as I am sure she would attest to.

With all that being said, I, as the member of Parliament for Red Deer—Lacombe, would like to reflect on a small moment in time, which was, to be precise, June 28, 1990. On that day the Queen actually visited my riding. Although the original itinerary limited the royal couple's stay to Calgary, it was subsequently decided that the Queen would head up to Red Deer for a few hours to see the new pediatric ward at the Red Deer Regional Hospital.

There was a buzz of excitement around her visit to the city, and a large crowd gathered to watch her do a walkabout of the structure. The new ward was innovative with patient-friendly elements such as facades of streetscapes in the rooms, and having the Queen visit was a real endorsement for the new ward. She was also introduced to a local firefighter called John Cormier, who had swum the English Channel to help raise $34,000 for the ward's construction.

The firefighters as a group were key fundraisers for the ward, helping supply it with a special children's burn unit. When the Queen was signing the official guest book, she asked a couple of times where they would like her to sign. Since no one answered her, she just signed where she thought it would be appropriate. After all, she was the Queen.

In the afternoon, she attended a lunch at the Capri Centre, where she presented the first Queen Elizabeth II Scholarship in neonatology and pediatrics to Judy Raabis, the clinical coordinator at the pediatric unit at the time of her visit. This an annual scholarship that is still awarded to this day.

An interesting anecdote about her visit comes from Red Deer's most revered resident historian, Michael Dawe. It involves concerns around Her Majesty's travel plans. As Her Majesty was being flown up to Red Deer from Calgary, a security measure was imposed whereby all air traffic in the area was temporarily suspended, yet there was a particular provincial cabinet minister who was known for his tardiness and who arrived after the security measure had come into effect. The pilot for his flight radioed in for permission to land anyway and added for good measure that he was transporting, of course, a minister of the Crown. Much to the pilot's consternation, ground control radioed back to let him know that the incoming flight simply outranked him.

It has always amazed me to see how the Queen could find the time to visit some of the little communities in between the larger urban centres, a lesson that we as parliamentarians could learn from. Furthermore, it was the Queen who specifically directed that the events she attended should primarily be public ones, rather than private receptions. This trend echoed the sentiments of the last British governor general, the Right Honourable Harold Alexander, whose informal style at Rideau Hall had possibly impressed the royal couple upon their 1951 visit to Canada.

The 1990 visit marked the fifth time the royal couple had come to my home province of Alberta, and although several royals had visited Red Deer, Queen Elizabeth was the first and only one to visit Red Deer as a monarch.

In 2005, Her Majesty visited Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium. During this visit, I had the chance to be in the stadium with her due to my position at the time on the Lacombe town council. Alberta had turned 100 years old in Confederation in 2005.

Despite my limited interactions with her, I have a great deal of respect for Queen Elizabeth II, and I am honoured to be speaking here on her behalf today. I know many in this place have said that Her Majesty's reign was almost half the entire existence of Canada as a country itself. Well, Alberta has existed as a province in Confederation for only 122 years, and Her Majesty oversaw 70 of those. She has seen Alberta more than any other monarch could possibly have imagined.

She is the only queen that I, as well as so many Canadians, have ever known, and her loss will surely bring unforeseen changes to our nation. As a nation, we have the fortune of being a stable democratic country under her guidance, and a country that grew into its own under her watch.

I honour the Queen today, not only as a parliamentarian of a Commonwealth country but also as a proud Canadian. The future may be uncertain, but today we celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's importance to our collective past. May we remember Her Majesty's devotion to the Commonwealth and to a life of public service.

Godspeed to the Queen. God save the King. God bless Canada.

Blaine Calkins

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