Thank you, Madam Speaker. Madam Speaker, tomorrow is Remembrance Day and like other colleagues, today I want to take some time to recognize the sacrifices made by the Canadian Armed Forces. They fought and died in many wars and peace-keeping operations in this century.

Our armed forces' sacrifice has allowed all of us to live in a wonderful democracy that we sometimes take for granted. There were 68,000 Canadian soldiers who died in World War I; 45,000 Canadian soldiers died in World War II and hundreds more in Korea. It continues. Over 100 Canadians have died in peace-keeping operations around the world since the United Nations started peace-keeping operations. In the latest peace-keeping operation in Yugoslavia, 10 Canadians have died already.

I would also like to recognize some of the sacrifices made by my family over the years. Both my father's father and my mother's father were both gassed in World War I in separate battles. Both of them died young because of complications. I never had a chance to know either one of them. My father's uncle, Lieutenant Allan Minns, was wounded three different times and was killed at the age of 21 in World War I. Another one of my father's uncles, Captain Minns, was wounded five different times, won almost every major bravery decoration and was honoured by the Governor General after the war.

My father served as a combat engineer in World War II and was a career army officer for 29 years. Like most Canadians, I am very proud of my family's contribution. I feel all of us owe a great debt of thanks to the many Canadians who have served and died for this country. Without them, there would be no Canada as we know it today. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

---Applause