On behalf of all my colleagues from the New Democratic Party, I want to express my sincere condolences to the friends and relatives of Gaston Péloquin, and particularly to his adopted son Pascal.
I had the opportunity to talk to Gaston on several occasions and I found him to be a man of compassion and integrity who was very concerned by the plight of the poor and the vulnerable in our society. Even in his maiden speech in this House he referred to social programs and, in particular, to the rights of handicapped people. A strong believer in an independent Que-
bec for many years, he was also very devoted to the well-being of his constituents of Brome-Missisquoi.
This is a terrible loss for them, for us his parliamentary colleagues, and especially for his family. We will all miss him.