Honourable senators, St. John Ambulance is a global charity that is located in more than 40 countries. Established in Canada in 1882, it has about 10,000 volunteers, who provide over 1 million hours of community service each year. There are more than 100 branches serving over 300 communities across the country, training 550,000 Canadians in emergency first aid each year. St. John Ambulance has a community emergency response program, which provides assistance to professional first responders. The organization is also well known for their street‑level opioid programs, mental health programs and therapy dogs that attend schools, hospitals, airports and homes for the elderly.

St. John Ambulance has also trained our members of the Canadian Armed Forces for the past 140 years. In the past three months, right here in this building, all Senate pages have been trained by St. John Ambulance in emergency first aid and CPR for the protection and safety of all senators. At the conclusion of their training, they all attended a special ceremony where pages were presented with the St. John Ambulance pin to wear on their Senate uniform, presented to each page by St. John Chancellor André Levesque and its national Chief Executive Officer Martin Gangnier, who are both here with us today.

The Senate Chamber is also where the national investiture ceremony is held annually in June for the Order of St. John Priory of Canada. For the first time in history this past June, this event was identified as an official parliamentary event and was filmed and broadcast across Canada and around the world to share and congratulate Canada’s community volunteers.

Deserving recipients from across Canada were admitted or promoted within the Order of Saint John for their meritorious service and dedication to duty. The Order of St. John is a Royal Order of Chivalry created by Queen Victoria in 1888 and is now part of the Canadian honours system.

As it is the month of December, we also take pause to remember the Canadian Armed Forces and allied service members who defended Hong Kong, alongside members of St. John Ambulance who saved lives during the battle of Hong Kong 82 years ago.

Honourable senators, please join me in honouring and thanking the volunteers of the world’s largest humanitarian organization, St. John Ambulance, but especially those who serve others right here in Canada. They are a true testimony to their motto, “Pro Fide, Pro Utilitate Hominum,” which means, “For the Faith, In the Service of Humanity.”