Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.
It's a pleasure to be here with you again today. I came before this committee for the first time on Thursday morning. This committee is very important to all Canadians. It certainly is for francophone communities, but I believe it's also important for anglophone minority communities.
I'd like to begin by reminding all my colleagues that my French is only so-so. Today is a good opportunity for me to practise by debating the wording of the amendment proposed by Mr. Samson.
Before starting, I trust that all my colleagues spent a pleasant weekend with their families and fellow citizens. In my riding, the Annapolis Valley apple blossom festival was celebrating its 90th anniversary. It was an opportunity to celebrate our farming heritage, apples, and our connection to the land. I'd like to thank all the volunteers and others who contributed to the festival's success. It's a very important event for our communities in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.
As a result, I was very busy over the weekend, but I took a few hours to reconsider my comments from last Thursday. I believe it's essential to add a few things to what I said on Thursday. I have something like 10 or 11 more points to make about Mr. Samson's amendment. But I want to make sure that my comments are appropriate and that the committee is made aware of all my Nova Scotian points of view. The wording of the motion and the debate about the comments made by Mr. Drouin are important, but then the perspectives of all MPs from across the country are equally important. That being the case, the comments made by Mr. Serré, from northern Ontario, and by Mr. Samson, from Nova Scotia, are equally important.
You may perhaps recall, Mr. Chair, my family ties to the French language. My own circumstances illustrate this. When I first arrived here in Parliament, my ability to express myself in French was limited. In fact, it was very poor. But today, here I am before a parliamentary committee and actually able to deliver my comments in French.
I telephoned my uncle over the weekend to make sure that what I knew about the Blois family history was accurate. Indeed, prior to this public meeting, Mr. Chair, we had a conversation about my ties to the Vikings and to Normandy. I provided details about my family. Of course, Blois is the name of a city in France. That's where it all begins. The Vikings were in northern France. In fact, they were everywhere in Europe, not only in England and Scotland, but also in France. The first Blois in North America had connections to France and to the Norman conquest of England. You asked me whether I had any links to the Vikings, Mr. Chair. I have no idea, but I'm very proud of my ties to France and the French language.
The first Blois who came to North America was named Abraham Blois. He was a soldier in the British army. I've been talking about the past, but I still haven't explained how my ancestor received his lands in Nova Scotia. That's our connection to where we live here in Canada. After the American War of Independence, the King decided to give land to the soldiers and veterans—