Thank you Mr. Speaker. I would also like to speak on Canada Day today and the celebration of citizenship. My parents emigrated from Holland after World War II, when I was a young boy. They came to create a better life for their two children, my brother and I. We came on an immigrant ship and landed in Halifax. We travelled from Halifax over a two-day period, on a coal-fired train to the Ottawa valley. We lived in a one-room log cabin in the country and my brother and I attended a one-room school. We felt very fortunate. This country has been very good to our family. We are very lucky. This is the best country in the world, Mr. Speaker, there is no question about that.
The United Nations has acknowledged that some eight times. It is based on a comparison of some 175 countries in the world and some 100 criteria in terms of education, lifestyle, health services, and so on. People from around the world want to come and live in this particular country. They are, all over the world, very anxious to be citizens of our country here.
I would like to publicly thank my parents for bringing my brother and I to this country. I would like to thank this country for what it has done for my brother and I and my family. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause