Hon. Donald Neil Plett (Leader of the Opposition): Now I know why he insisted on speaking before I did.

Honourable senators, I present Chapter 6 in the legacy of Team Plett. I am thrilled to be standing here in this chamber welcoming not only my granddaughter Myla but also her curling teammates Alyssa, Chloe and Allie, along with their coach Blair Lenton. David Nedohin, the other coach, has promised he will be at our reception tonight.

To say that I am proud of the quest for excellence that these girls have undertaken would be an understatement. They have done what no other junior curling team has ever accomplished: winning back-to-back Under-18 national championships, winning the silver medal at the Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island, then winning the Under-21 junior championship in Quebec, which allowed them to represent Canada in Finland at the World Junior Curling Championships 2024 and become the first women’s junior team in Canadian history to ever win the Under-18 and Under-21 championships in the same year.

Because of their curling accomplishments and past record, Team Plett was invited to curl in the PointsBet Invitational tournament in Oakville, Ontario, where they curled against professional curlers.

On September 27, they were given the unenviable task of curling in their first game against none other than the world champion Jennifer Jones. They took Jennifer all the way through 10 ends before losing in a very close game. In this game, Myla almost mirrored Jennifer Jones’s curling record of 82% with her own, which was 81%.

In the words of Canadian champion, Curling Canada Hall of Fame inductee and TSN commentator Cathy Gauthier, “Every so often there is somebody that comes along that you call the next best thing.” That is how she described my granddaughter Myla — as the best next thing in curling.

Colleagues, Team Plett then went on to curl in the Saville U25 Challenge, where they curled against women 25 years of age and under from around the world. Again, they went all the way to the final before losing a very close game.

This weekend, colleagues, they are here in Ottawa curling at the Ottawa Valley Curling Association U21 Junior SuperSpiel. I know we want to wish them all well, and although you may not be able to cheer for an Alberta team while they are here in Ottawa, I know you will want to encourage them and cheer them on when they represent Canada at the world championships.

Colleagues, I want to invite everyone to the third-floor boardroom this evening at 6 p.m. for a little get-together and reception to meet the girls. For many of you, supporting Team Plett might be much easier when it’s regarding curling rather than politics, and I hope you will all join us. I know the girls would love to meet each and every one of you.

Thank you very much.