Mr. Speaker, when I learned that the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke would be back in the chamber, I was delighted, but then I learned that he will be in the chamber for a very short amount of time even right now. He informed me, as he has informed all of us, that he is leaving this august place, but I believe his last day here in Ottawa may actually be tomorrow.

I have given a lot of speeches in the chamber, but I am just going to speak personally here about a person, a gentleman, whom I have come to know personally. The first word that comes to mind is simply the word “class”. The member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, and it is a mouthful just pronouncing his riding, is just a classy individual and a classy human being.

He started by recognizing his constituents, for whom he stood for office six times, four times successfully, and I have always known him as a fierce defender of his riding and his community. I want to join him in saluting his staff for all the work they have done to make the member such an accomplished one and a person who contributes so much in the chamber.

The second thing I have known the member for is obviously his work on justice files. We had a lot of interactions, in my time as parliamentary secretary and also now in my time as minister, on passion projects of his, but he also spent time teaching me about the other things he would be working on, whether they related to public safety or defence causes, etc.

With respect to the passion with which he approached the fight and the causes that he believes in, we will not find a more dedicated advocate for the 2SLGBTQI+ community than the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke. I also remember his telling me, “Arif, that's such a mouthful”, and asking me why we do not just use “SOGI”, which is “sexual orientation and gender identity”. I thought that made a lot of sense, but I will use whatever terms he wants, because I take my cues on such issues from the member.

I have known the member as a passionate advocate for working diligently on projects that really affect all Canadians. We have heard him talk about the fact that the fight for the rights of the queer community extends all of the time to people right around the country, but never more so than with the rights of transpeople right now, and particularly trans children. I salute the member for the leadership he has shown on a cause that really should not be partisan in the chamber or anywhere else, because ultimately we are dealing with a subset of a community and with young, vulnerable kids. That is a testament to what the member puts his priorities into and where he dedicates his energies.

Working together with the member on issues such as medical assistance in dying and how we move from where we were in 2016 through 2019 and through 2021, I have always relied upon his wise counsel and advice. There has obviously been a partisan element to the work we do; that is part of what we do here in the chamber, but what I have always found in the member is that he understands where to replace partisanship with principle in terms of collaborating productively to advance the causes.

In terms of advancing the fight against hate, again, I have not seen a more co-operative or collaborative member, who is willing not just to step up to the task at hand but also to make it personal, because ultimately politics is personal. When he has stood up with such alacrity and such candour and talked about his own life experiences, as he just did here in a very emotional moment for him, talking about how his own life has taken him through different twists and turns and brought him to the place where he stands as a four-time member of Parliament, he has spoken honestly and compassionately about what he believes in. I applaud him for that.

I remember distinctly the conversations we had during the blockade of this city, and what he faced as a gay man in terms of particular targeting during that time. We talked about what we need to do collaboratively together, as all parliamentarians of every political stripe, to combat that kind of hatred.

We have also had important conversations about abuse and about children. I salute the member for always putting the needs of kids above all else. I will give one tangible example. I represent the largest Tibetan diaspora in the world outside South Asia. What I have found in the member, through his work with constantly taking on Tibetan Canadian youth as interns in his office, is an effort by him not just to do right by those young people and to provide them with mentorship, but also to actually take it to the next level, where he both provides mentorship to the young people and also uses tools on the floor of the chamber to actually advance causes.

What I am talking about are things like the effective use of Order Paper questions and of petitions. In doing so, he is not just taking on a young person who might not otherwise get a chance, but he is actually advancing the yardsticks of causes that they believe in, which is I think is the best of both worlds in terms of a mentorship exercise. He is not just committed but he is also savvy about the parliamentary tools. He mentioned some of those tools in the work he had done on the defence committee, in terms of advancing the yardsticks.

What I would say about the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, and why I insisted to my staff that I would be going in to listen to the speech and would be providing some words about him, is simply that from my perspective, he represents the best of what it means to be a parliamentarian in the chamber. He is committed to his riding. He is committed to his portfolio. He is committed to defending the interests in which he believes.

If politics is the art of the possible, I would say that the member for Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke shows always what is possible and what can be achieved, with tremendous success. He has distinguished himself in committee. He has distinguished himself in the chamber as a man of principle and as a man of integrity. What I would say is that he will be missed. He should enjoy retirement; my friend deserves it.

Arif Virani

$436,718.00