Mr. Speaker, the Mauricie and, more specifically, the City of Trois-Rivières recently hosted the ninth international meet of log drivers and raftsmen. This event drew more than 500 participants from France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Sweden, the United States, Austria, Germany, Finland, Canada and, of course, Quebec.
Log drivers and rafstmen-in Quebec, draveurs and raftmen-are a courageous group which helped to develop entire regions of Quebec like the Outaouais and the Mauricie.
It was an honour for our region to host this outstanding cultural, historical and tourism event, especially since it was being held for the first time in North America.
I would like to draw your attention to the exceptional job done by François de Lagrave, of Pointe-du-Lac, the president and executive secretary of this meet and his organizing committee, who made this event an outstanding success.