Senator Mercer: Get to know your colleagues on both sides. You will all be better off.

In this chamber we can debate and argue, disagree and agree. But out there, outside, remember that we are all people who can celebrate friendships, regardless of where we are on the political spectrum. The grand experiment of the Prime Minister is still just that: an experiment.

What will happen in the future? It’s up to us — really to you now — how to navigate it and what changes to keep. What the Senate will look like in the future is up to you. Please do not forget the past, and please do not think that the past was so horrible, because you may end up going back to it.

My prediction has always been that eventually this place will evolve back to where it was. There will be a group sitting over there as the opposition and there will be a group sitting over here as the government, and I would suggest there will be several other groups like we have now. But I think that’s how the place will evolve. You’ll all figure that out on your own. I won’t be here to guide you, although I would be happy to give you advice.

Honourable senators, I would like to thank all of my family and friends, too many to mention, who have been extremely supportive through the good times and the bad.

My cousin John is in the gallery with his wife, Neena. Without them, Ellen and I would not have been able to transition to Ottawa when we first moved here, and we thank them for that. It made our lives so much easier.

To my wife Ellen, whom I recently celebrated our fiftieth wedding anniversary with, words are not enough. I wouldn’t be here today without you. You are my rock.