Statement made on 26 June 2011 by Senator James Cowan
Hon. James S. Cowan (Leader of the Opposition):
Honourable senators, on behalf of all my colleagues on this side, I associate ourselves with the remarks of the Leader of the Government in the Senate. I wish all members of our extended Senate family a happy, relaxing and election-free summer. I hope we will all return invigorated, perhaps in somewhat better humour than we have been in from time to time in the last few weeks.
I know that everyone in this family of ours has worked very hard in what we all believe to be in the best interests of this great country of Canada. The Senate, as we have often said, is an underappreciated place, except by those of us who know what it really is. The senators do their job, and most of them work very hard all the time.
However, none of us could do the job we do without the support of the other members of the family, our own staffs, the Clerk and his staff, all the security guards, the interpreters and everyone else.
As well, I know that Senator Murray made a very brief intervention and then scooted out the door. I hope that we will have an opportunity to pay more fulsome tribute to him. He referred earlier in the afternoon to his institutional knowledge. Since I have come here, I have always listened carefully to what he has said. I have relied and leaned on him on a number of occasions for advice, which he has always given. I will not say that I always liked the advice he has given to me, but it was good advice. We will all miss his thoughtful participation and insightful interventions. We have seen several examples of it today. Time and time again, he has demonstrated that he is the very model of what he now is, an independent senator. Many of you will have known him when he was more partisan, and perhaps some of my colleagues did not appreciate his independent streak as much as we do now. Nonetheless, he has been a great senator and has made a great contribution to this house and, indeed, to our country. We are all very grateful for that, and we wish him a long, happy and healthy retirement. We know that he will be showering us with advice from time to time, whether we want it or not.
Happy summer, everyone.