Mr. Speaker, we cannot really celebrate black history month in Canada without remembering Mathieu Da Costa, the first recorded black African to set foot in Canada.
Mathieu Da Costa was a navigator, an explorer and a linguist. Through his many voyages to Canada in the late 1500s he made contact with the Mi'kmaq people and learned their language.
In 1603 he was the navigator on the ship which carried Samuel de Champlain on his voyage of exploration. On arrival this black man became the interpreter for Samuel de Champlain with the Mi'kmaq people, thus paving the way for the early settlers; Mathieu Da Costa, navigator, linguist, interpreter.
Congratulations to the many students who today receive the Mathieu Da Costa awards.