Honourable senators, I would first like to thank my Conservative colleagues for allowing me to have this statement slot.

I rise today to pay tribute to my seatmate, the Honourable — and remarkable — Senator Margo Greenwood. Earlier today, just across the street in the drawing room of the Château Laurier Hotel, our esteemed colleague Senator Greenwood was celebrated for her 20 years of leadership as the academic leader of the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health at the University of Northern British Columbia.

The room was full of Margo’s colleagues from across Canada and also internationally. Dr. Theresa Tam, Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, paid tribute to Senator Greenwood. They had collaborated over the years and, together, made a significant difference in the health outcomes in Indigenous communities during the height of the COVID pandemic. Minister Carolyn Bennett lauded Margo for her leadership, creativity and significant impacts. Natan Obed, the President of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, was there to celebrate his colleague and friend Margo. Many of her close friends and admirers from our chamber and beyond were there as Margo symbolically crossed over the bridge from her previous national leadership role to the one we have known her to have here in Canada’s upper chamber.

Margo was honoured with words, song and drum, and she was wrapped with love in a beautiful star blanket — the ultimate in honouring. Colleagues, quite frankly, the morning event was a Senator Margo Greenwood love-in, and it was so very well deserved.

Our colleague Senator Greenwood got up and spoke, and if I had a lot more time to prepare for this, I would have asked her for her remarks. But she started off with a beautiful image of a tree that she grew up with, which she called “the dreaming tree.” With every position Margo has held — and she was speaking of her position and her leadership in Indigenous health — she has been one to dream about the possible.

What she told us about in her remarks was how she — and she was very generous in this — and many of those in the room, as well as others who were not in the room, had brought about very important dreams of better health outcomes, dreams of collaboration, dreams of people operating on much better information and evidence — not just the kind of academic evidence that we usually look at, but, yes, academic evidence — and dreams of honouring Indigenous knowledge. It was an honour to be there.

She was generous, and on behalf of my Independent Senators Group colleagues and all of the colleagues here in this Senate Chamber, I want to thank Senator Greenwood for crossing over that bridge and being here with us. I know it wasn’t easy, and it can’t be easy every day, but we’re so fortunate to have you with us. Thank you, and congratulations. Hiy hiy.