Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I would like to join my colleagues in extending my congratulations to you on your election, and I look forward to an interesting and productive session under your tutelage.

Mr. Speaker, Members will notice a small flag lapel pin on their desks. Over the past few days, I've been reflecting on a piece of Canadian history that won my attention some 30 years ago. On February 15th -- that's today -- 1965, our current, distinctive flag replaced the old Union Jack which was unofficial and was borrowed from Britain. Since our flag was commissioned, its symbolic red maple leaf has represented this proud country here in Canada and most of the nations of the world. I, like a lot of Canadians, feel a real sense of pride when we see our flag, and the majority of the world's nations recognize and respect the value that it has come to represent.

Mr. Speaker, the coming into being of the flag was not an easy task, and it came in, like many very valuable things, under some pretty difficult conditions. The flag was recommended to the House of Commons by a special committee on the Canadian flag. This 15-Member committee held over 40 meetings; it heard many, many witnesses in camera and it examined some 2,000 new designs in addition to designs that had previously been submitted before the making of the final recommendations.

Mr. Speaker, at the time, I was sort of a budding artist and I had even submitted one. I never knew whatever happened to it, but it didn't look quite like this. It was a red, white and blue motif and it had a buffalo head on it, if I remember, and a star, but it never did go any further than that.

Mr. Speaker, Canadians had debated the merit of their own flag for more than 18 years under three different Prime Ministers with very strong opinions both for and against. The then-Prime Minister, Lester B. Pearson, insisted that the new flag should denote allegiance to Canada rather than have a colonial association, and that stirred a lot of bad feelings.

Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude.