What a privilege it is to be able to stand here today to speak in support in the debate on Bill 65, which is An Act to amend the Remembrance Week Act, 2016.

Madam Speaker, I know how lucky we are to live in a country like Canada. After having served in the Canadian Forces for 31 years, I have been fortunate to visit more than 75 countries around the world, and I can tell you first-hand just how lucky we really are. So many in this world are not as fortunate. I wish other people could see what I have seen. Maybe they would fight as hard as so many veterans did to protect all the gifts and blessings that have been bestowed upon us. Seeing the reality of the rest of the world makes me even more grateful for this country, and it made me even more determined to do whatever was necessary to protect this country and its citizens.

Madam Speaker, over the course of our history, Canadians have fought to protect this country. World War I, World War II, Korea, the gulf wars, Afghanistan, plus many peacekeeping missions right around the globe—so many made the ultimate sacrifice, but so many more came home suffering the after-effects, the trauma of war. They suffered physically, mentally, emotionally, and many still suffer today. Those sacrifices deserve to be recognized and acknowledged. Remembrance Week starts soon. Please, I ask everyone to take the time and talk with our veterans. Express your gratitude and our thanks for what they have left for us.

Madam Speaker, I want to tell you about one of my local heroes, Dr. Roly Armitage. He served in World War II. He served in the Royal Canadian Artillery and took part in the Normandy invasion and the liberation of Europe. At 98 and a half years old, he is still as sharp as a tack.

I visited him on the weekend, as I do quite often, and I was pleased to be able to see a guest book for an event that took place in Ottawa earlier this summer. What a story this is. In 1944, Roly was serving in Holland, and late one night, on his way back to camp, he came across two frightened children in a ditch on the side of the road. It was freezing cold, he said, and raining, and the children were cold and weak and hungry. He stopped and picked up the children, and he took them back to camp so they could be cared for.

Almost 80 years later, he got to meet one of those children, one of the children he had rescued. He was in Holland earlier this year for the Liberation Day ceremonies, and he told his story, and it spread through the entire network and around the globe. What a legacy. It brought Roly together with the now 83-year-old woman who he had rescued. What a legacy: courage to fight for his country but still have a big heart for those in need. It’s the Canadian way, Madam Speaker. I’m so proud to call Roly a friend and to be able to thank him in person, and I look forward to seeing him again soon.

Madam Speaker, Roly is one of less than 20,000 World War II veterans left in this country. Taking the time to listen to their stories is so very important, and it’s only getting more so. When we say “lest we forget” this November, we must acknowledge that remembrance is an active effort; that without effort, the lessons of the past can be forgotten. Those are hard-fought lessons, Madam Speaker, and the Canadians who fought for them did so because they knew it was right. We remember not just because we are proud, but because without remembering, we lose part of the gift that they left to us.

The democracy that we enjoy here in Canada is a result of these sacrifices. It is incumbent on all of us to protect that gift. We all know that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. With rising authoritarianism around the world, the lessons of the past must be spoken louder than ever.

I know that every member in this House has plans to participate in Remembrance Week and at Remembrance Day ceremonies, and I thank you. I, too, will be out in my riding visiting my local Legions, thanking the veterans who have served this country.

I’m lucky to have two excellent Legions in my community who not only lead remembrance ceremonies, but organize poppy drives, support the Perley Health campus, and devote their time to helping veterans and their families. Royal Canadian Legion Branch 638 in Kanata; Branch 616, West Carleton, in Constance Bay; and Dominion Command in Kanata all have my heartfelt thanks—not only the veterans who are members of these Legions, but the countless volunteers who work hard to selflessly support all the veterans and their families in our communities.

Madam Speaker, we can never acknowledge and thank our veterans enough, and that is why I ask everyone to wear their poppies beginning Friday, October 27, to the 11th of November. When you do so, you help support veterans and their families, who have also sacrificed much. I support this bill and I thank the member for Whitby for his initiative in bringing it forward.

Thank you, Madam Speaker. Lest we forget.