Mr. Speaker, in October 1945, Hector Racine, then president of the Montreal Royals, announced that Jackie Robinson was joining his baseball team. This signalled the beginning of the end of racial segregation in American and Canadian professional sport.
Yesterday, as we marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Montrealers paid tribute to Jackie Robinson, the first black to play baseball professionally.
Mr. Robinson played one year with the Montreal club, in 1946, before joining the Brooklyn Dodgers for a remarkable professional career.
On behalf of all those who remember Jackie Robinson, I would like to pay tribute once again to this great adopted son of Montreal, who led his team to victory in the international league in 1946.