Mr. Speaker, it is with great personal emotion, and from a historical perspective, that I would like to pay tribute to Dr. Camille Laurin, who just announced that he was leaving public life for health reasons.
A page of history was written by the one who was called the “father of Bill 101”, or Quebec's charter of the French language.
We can never truly measure the energy, perseverance, receptiveness and generosity displayed by Dr. Laurin in achieving this resounding success in spite of numerous efforts made to downplay, if not destroy, his achievement.
Quebeckers of all political stripes recognize the courage—motivated by a deep love for his people—of this humanist, who always managed to maintain very good relations with his fellow citizens.
As editorial writer Murray Maltais points out in today's edition of Le Droit , “Today's Quebec society owes 101 thanks to Dr. Laurin”.