Mr. Speaker, in 1976, Jean-Claude Babain, Robert “Bob” Meunier, Jean Duplessis, Yvon Rioux and myself applied to the Quebec major junior hockey league for a franchise for Val-d'Or.
The dinosaurs of the league kept on turning us down, from 1976 to 1992, but we finally got our franchise in 1992, and in 1993 were officially admitted to the Quebec major junior hockey league.
Today, thanks to their courage and determination, Les Foreurs de Val-d'Or are the new Quebec and eastern Canadian major junior hockey league champions.
After only five years of existence, Les Foreurs de Val-d'Or will be representing eastern Canada at the Memorial Cup junior hockey series to be held in Spokane, Washington.
Hats off to the volunteers and the directors of Les Foreurs de Val-d'Or, their fans, and the people of Abitibi. The efforts of these young players have brought them to an extraordinary victory.
They all deserve our congratulations.