Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I also want to testify to submit a proposed name change for the electoral district of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. We would like to suggest the name "Vaudreuil—Soulanges-Est".
The name "Soulanges" is a heritage name in the province of Quebec. It is the name of a seigniory that dates back to New France and that was named in honour of Pierre-Jacques de Joybert de Soulanges et de Marson.
Historically, the communities that lived in the territory of Soulanges were those of Saint-Clet, Coteau-du-Lac, Les Cèdres and Pointe-des-Cascades. As the new electoral district of Vaudreuil includes the municipalities of Les Cèdres and Pointe-des-Cascades, which historically constitute the eastern part of the seigneury of Soulanges, I would like to propose the name Vaudreuil—Soulanges-Est.
I also propose another minor change, that three municipalities be grouped together in the new electoral district of Vaudreuil, which we propose should be named Vaudreuil—Soulanges-Est. They are the municipalities of Sainte-Justine-de-Newton, Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Sainte-Marthe.
The reason why we want to include these three communities north of the electoral district is that they are hard to reach by Highway 20. It would be very difficult for the member for Salaberry to travel to the north of the riding in winter road conditions.
In addition, Mont Rigaud is an important geographic entity in the territory. The communities of Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Sainte-Marthe are part of Mont Rigaud. I would like to retain that geographic entity and the communities around Mont Rigaud. They have a considerable common interest in keeping the mountain. In addition, Sainte-Justine-de-Newton is not part of the historical seigneury of Vaudreuil or that of Soulanges. It is a township that was established under the British regime.
Since the population of the municipality of Sainte-Justine-de-Newton has very strong ties to those of the municipalities of Très-Saint-Rédempteur and Sainte-Marthe, and they often hold joint events, we propose that those three municipalities be kept together as part of the new electoral district of Vaudreuil—Soulanges-Est. This is a very minor change. Altogether, it represents fewer than 3,000 residents and even fewer electors. I therefore do not believe this will cause a serious problem regarding the variance from the number of electors.
That in short is what I wanted to present. I know that my electors were very disappointed to lose the historical name of Soulanges. We would like to keep it in the name of the electoral district of Salaberry or Vaudreuil and, in an ideal world, in both ridings.
The purpose of my proposal is thus to have a new riding name, that of Vaudreuil—Soulanges-Est.