The Hon. the Speaker: I cannot begin without thanking Senator Gold, Senator Plett, Senator Saint-Germain, Senator Tannas and Senator Cordy for the very warm, kind and, I must say, humbling remarks. I want to thank you very much for that. It’s very touching and very heartfelt. Thank you.

Honourable senators, for 23 and a half years it has been an honour and a privilege to serve in the Senate of Canada.

As many before me and, no doubt, many after, I will always cherish fond memories of the Senate and of its members, past and present, with whom I have had the distinct privilege to serve.

[Translation]

I feel very humbled to have had the honour and unique opportunity to contribute to the work of the Senate as Speaker for the past seven and a half years.

I want to sincerely thank you, honourable senators, for your generous support, encouragement and advice throughout my tenure as Speaker.

[English]

Honourable senators, let us always remember that our calling to this chamber is an honourable one. Let us always remember in our debates that disagreements must be debated, even vigorously at times, but never — never — personally. Disparaging individuals adds nothing to debate, but indeed denigrates the Senate as a whole.

Colleagues, we live in a world filled with outpourings of misinformation and disinformation. We see the very principles of democracy under attack all around the world.

In 1947, Winston Churchill said:

Many forms of Government have been tried, and will be tried in this world of sin and woe. No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time . . .

Churchill was not trying to be funny; he was reminding us that while the very freedoms of democracy are its strengths, so too are they its vulnerabilities. For with all its strengths and all its fragilities, democracy requires honesty, honour and decency on both sides of the aisle. Your deliberations must always reflect this as well as your commitment to the principles of democracy, accountability and transparency.

We are very fortunate in our parliamentary system of government to have an appointed Senate as a complementary chamber to the House of Commons. And as we have seen, the new method of appointments since 2015 builds on the advantage of an appointed house by diversifying and strengthening the overall membership.

Members of the other place carry the responsibility of being the elected representatives of the people to whom the government of the day is both responsible and accountable. We in the Senate are less constrained than they are in applying our knowledge and experience to the tasks of making good laws and scrutinizing government policy because we do not face that requirement of seeking election.

Instead of being so often preoccupied with the day-to-day that is the necessary duty of the House of Commons, we in the Senate have an opportunity to focus on the long-term perspective. We can offer advice and propose policies that enrich public discourse across the entire spectrum of public policy. The studies we undertake can assist the House of Commons, the government and the general public in appreciating the nature of the challenges we face and the opportunities they present in today’s Canada and, indeed, in today’s world.

In playing this vital role, the Senate can never pretend to have a determinative voice, but as a complementary chamber we can certainly ensure a better-informed, more balanced public debate.

At the outset of my career in the Senate, two outstanding examples of this work were carried out by two special studies in committee: The first concerned cannabis in a special committee chaired by former Conservative senator Pierre Claude Nolin, and the second concerned the federal role in health care, resulting from the work of the Social Affairs, Science and Technology Committee chaired by former Liberal senator Michael Kirby.

These studies make real a characteristic that is unique to the Senate and that exists only because we are an appointed body. These studies show clearly the great value of bipartisan parliamentary work. Senators are in the distinct position of being able to resist public pressure in order to do public good. Never has this been more important than in today’s world.

The membership in the Senate now is as good, as talented and as capable as it has ever been. The challenges that we need to confront remain still before us. Some, like climate change, are existential in importance. Others, like the poisonous impact of dark social media, threaten to undermine confidence in the institutions of government.

The Senate offers so much potential to do so much good. Do not waste this potential through partisan bickering. Do your very best to make the Senate a truly integral and complementary part of our whole parliamentary system.

On this matter, the Senate must always make its views known, but must then show deference to the elected body. There are, of course, rare occasions when the Senate may hold out in the name of grave public interest. Remember, though, that just because some may feel an issue is of grave national interest does not make it so. The people of Canada will tell you when there is an issue of grave national concern.

I wish you well in your deliberations. Argue and debate loud and clear, but please never fall victim to ad hominem or personal attacks, no matter how subtle they are. And never assign motives to the decisions and debates of others. You belittle yourself with such attacks, and the Senate in general.

I want to take a moment to thank the staff of the Senate, whose dedication and hard work have made my job as Speaker, and all our jobs as senators, if not much easier, certainly possible. Their tireless efforts to support the work of the Senate, often behind the scenes, have been instrumental in ensuring that this institution functions smoothly and effectively.

I wish to highlight the work of our senior executive: our Clerk, Gérald Lafrenière; our Chief Corporate Services Officer and Clerk of the Standing Committee on Internal Economy, Budgets and Administration, Pascale Legault; and our Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel, Philippe Hallée, who are supported by our directors and their staff.

As well, I want to extend a special thank you to our present and former chiefs of the Chamber Operations and Procedure Office, or COPO, who sit next to me during all of our sittings: Till Heyde, Cathy Piccinin, Heather Lank and all other COPO staff members, without whom we would, no doubt, descend into chaos here in the chamber.

And, of course, thank you to our pages, who always manage to do their work with great zeal and great humour. We owe all who work here a great deal of appreciation for their commitment to public service and to our great institution. They work long hours often and sacrifice personal and family time to serve the Senate.

I also wish to thank my long-standing senior staff and all those who worked with them over the years, in particular, Suzanne Charron, Stuart Barnable, Loren Cicchini and Vince MacNeil. I want to express a special thank you to Frederick Grittner, who has served five Speakers over the years with dedication and professionalism and who will be retiring as well.

I will speak more about this later today but, for the record, I want to recognize and thank my wonderful wife, Karen, who is in the gallery today, and our children — Andrew and his wife, Allison; Meghan and her husband, Ben; Rebecca and her husband, Mike; David and his friend, Kerri — as well as our wonderful grandchildren, Maggie, Sarah, Adam, Luke, Rachael, Mark and Matthew, whose love and support have made my work possible. As well, they are accompanied by other family members and friends.

On behalf of all senators, I want to welcome you to the Senate of Canada.

Hon. Jane Cordy: Senator Furey, I can’t believe that the time for your retirement is here. Your distinguished career serving the people of Newfoundland and Labrador in Ottawa is coming to a close after almost 24 years.

It was a pleasure to serve alongside you in caucus for 15 of those years, until your appointment in 2015 as the first Speaker of the Senate from Newfoundland and Labrador. I will add that during the time that Geoff Regan served as Speaker of the House of Commons, it was the first time that the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Speaker of the Senate were both graduates of the law school at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia.

George, I have many fond memories of working with you here in Ottawa. One fun thing that stands out was the Senate choir. You and I, along with Senator Ringuette and former senators Bill Rompkey, Joan Fraser, Lorna Milne and Gerald Comeau — to name a few — would sing together in the Senate choir, not as Liberals or Conservatives, but in the spirit of friendship.

The late senator Tommy Banks would lead and accompany us on piano, and if we sang out of tune, Tommy would simply begin to play a little louder.

As others have said, George, you have kept a steady hand as we have navigated these uncharted waters of change in the Senate over the last eight years — from the ever-evolving dynamics of this place, to the move from Centre Block to our temporary new home here in the Senate of Canada Building and the upheaval of the pandemic with a shift to hybrid sittings.

I think the highest praise a Speaker can receive is to be regarded as being fair. Your Honour, you have ruled fairly but firmly with words of encouragement for us to find solutions.

George, I know how important family is to you. You will now be able to spend more time with Karen, your children and, particularly, your grandchildren.

I wouldn’t normally quote a family member. However, since Andrew is a politician, I will make an exception here. He said:

Dad was a great role model, and not only was he a great role model, he’s one of my best friends.

He went on to say:

. . . my top priority is always going to be my family. That’s something that’s been instilled in me since I was a kid.

George, there is no better tribute to a parent or a Speaker than this.

You and Karen have always recognized that while politics is exciting and invigorating, family is what keeps us grounded.

Speaker, I phoned former senator Joan Cook — that might make you a little bit nervous — and I asked if she would like to share a funny story about you. She said, “George isn’t funny. He’s serious. It’s all about family.”

She went on to say that you had five grandchildren in two years. Now, Joan always knitted things for new babies, but I understand she phoned you, George, and said:

So, five grandchildren in two years — for God’s sake George, tell your kids to slow down. I can’t keep up with the knitting.

George, I am honoured to have had the privilege to serve with you in the Senate for the last 23 years. You have served Canadians and the Senate of Canada with great distinction and you have earned a deep respect from your colleagues. To quote this week’s The Hill Times, your retirement is “. . . a loss for the Senate and the Canadian public.” The descriptions of your decency, commitment and impact on this place cannot be overstated.

The Progressive Senate Group and I wish you and Karen the very best.

Thank you for all you have done.