Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, June 16th is an important day for some members of society -- Father's Day. It being Friday, I would like to take the opportunity to raise this issue.
Mr. Speaker, what does it take to be a father? It is not something you are born with and given automatically. It is something you are taught and nurtured in from your own father as time goes by. I know that because as a father myself, I use many examples that my father has given me when I speak to my children.
Mr. Speaker, I would like to take the time today to recognize the efforts of my father, my dad, as I call him. The efforts he has put into my life have helped to bring me where I am today. He is a patient man who has guided me along. Sometimes his hands were soft and sometimes they were hard. Even though at that point, I might say when I was growing up, I did not like the discipline that would come my way, but I must thank him for that discipline, because with that discipline, he taught me. I would like to thank him for the many times he brought me out and taught me about the land and how to treat and work on the land.
Something I must thank him for is what he instilled in me in how I raise my children, and the valuable lessons I learned under his guidance that I can pass on to my children as they grow. I would like to thank him for that. I continue to count on him for his guidance. As years go on, his wisdom continues to grow and he continues to share that with me, and I take that very seriously.
Something I would like to do as well as part of Father's Day is recognize my children, since I will not be home on the 16th and they cannot do their things for me at that point, I have a little wish list I would like to pass on to them. I could pull out many that I could think of as summer comes upon us. I would like to state to them that one thing I would like them to do while I am gone is:
- • Please obey your mom;
- • Do your homework and do it on time; and
- • Please do your chores, as I just found out from my wife that some of the chores are going unattended as I have not been at home.
I would like to have them honour me in that way, by obeying their mother and doing their homework. With that, Mr. Speaker, thank you.