In 1905, Spanish American philosopher George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I was thinking of this quote when I stood at a solemn ceremony yesterday at Legion Memorial Field, Maple Leaf Cemetery, in Chatham-Kent.

Yesterday, our Royal Canadian Legion Branch 642 celebrated Decoration Day, a tradition dating well back before Remembrance Day was proclaimed as our nationally designated day to celebrate the lives of the brave men and women who gave their lives in military service so that we could be free. As I stood along veteran soldiers and their families under a cloudless, sunny sky, at the graves of men and women from my community who wore our country’s uniform, I was humbled to think so many volunteered to defend our nation at its most perilous times.

Yesterday, people of all ages came out to pause and reflect on our precious democracy, on a world that remains mired in conflict and on the sacrifices of those who gave their today so we could have our tomorrow. The gravesites of our fallen were tidied, some attendees read aloud the names of the fallen and the small, humble tombstones were decorated, as is tradition, with new Canadian flags, a small gesture of remembrance and gratitude. Lest we forget.

Talking about birthdays, it’s our great member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound’s birthday, Rick Byers. Happy birthday. He’s turning 40.

What I would recommend, Mr. Speaker, is the NDP member and the PC member should maybe go out for lunch today and celebrate together.

Interjection: Hey.

We had the opportunity, myself and the Minister of Health—we went to Kensington Health. What a phenomenal facility that is. And I’m just wondering if the NDP wants to close Kensington Health doing 12,000 cataract operations a year. That’s the question for the NDP, because it would be a disaster if we ever close Kensington Health and cancel 12,000 cataract operations.

Good morning, Speaker. I don’t have anyone to introduce, but I would like to bring to the attention of our colleagues in the House that today we are celebrating the Armenian Heritage Month. This is the inaugural celebration which will take place in rooms 228 and 230 between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Many leaders of the Armenian community from St. Catharines, Cambridge, Hamilton, Mississauga, Oakville and Ottawa will join us, but in addition to that, we will have other ethnic groups like the Chinese community, the Greek Cypriots, Tamil and the Jewish community who will join to us celebrate. Everyone is welcome.