Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the Bloc Quebecois, I am pleased to pay tribute to Marcel Dionne who died on March 3 at the age of 66.
A native of the Eastern Townships, Mr. Dionne quickly became a member of the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean community. He represented the riding of Chicoutimi in the House of Commons from 1979 to 1984 and held the position of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Agriculture.
I and my fellow citizens in the Saguenay—Lac-Saint-Jean area remember him as a very committed individual who spared no effort in promoting our region's socio-economic development.
Many people now recognize that he was a catalyst of important achievements for our community. Those achievements included the redevelopment of the port of Chicoutimi, in collaboration with the entire regional community and then MLA Marc-André Bédard. This undertaking required that giant reservoirs be moved and the Vieux Port federal administrative complex built.
The port of Grande Anse, which is now a hub in the development of our regional economy, was one of the major projects to which the former member for Chicoutimi contributed.
He was also responsible for the development of CFB Bagotville, which required major investments for the maintenance of CF-18 fighters.
It is unfortunate I must say that he was never given credit for these major accomplishments because of the Progressive Conservative sweep in 1984, which denied him the opportunity to continue his excellent work in our region.
In addition to his very full career in politics, Mr. Dionne worked in various other fields.
Before making a political name for himself, he headed a potato production company for 13 years. He made a major contribution to modernizing agriculture in our region, enabling us to attain self-sufficiency in the production of potatoes in the early 1970s.
He was active in his community as well, serving as president of the Saguenéens de Chicoutimi of the Quebec major junior hockey league and president of the Quebec federation of potato producers. At the time of his death he was an assistant commissioner with the Canadian Grain Commission.
On behalf of the Bloc Quebecois I offer my sympathy to all the members of the Dionne family and my condolences to the people in the riding of Chicoutimi and our region whom he served so well.