Mr. Speaker, the International Poetry Festival was recently held in Trois-Rivières, which has gained international renown as the site of a major cultural event for the past 12 years. Last year, over 100 poets from some 20 countries presented their work.
This poetry festival arouses the interest and relies on the involvement of hundreds of participants of various backgrounds from school children to seniors. I am proud to say that this festival democratizes poetry, as is eloquently demonstrated by the hundreds of poems posted throughout the city and the monument to the unknown poet, the only monument of its kind in the world.
I would like to pay a special tribute to Gaston Bellemare, the festival's founder and driving force, to his team of hundreds of volunteers, and to the various partners who have turned the festival into an event recognized as a great moment in our cultural life.
In Trois-Rivières, democracy rhymes with poetry.