Mr. Speaker, on Saturday, Paul-André Quintin, the former chair of the international relations committee of the Parti Quebecois, died at the age of 58.
Paul-André Quintin was a professor of philosophy at the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, he was a committed sovereignist, a man who was completely devoted to sharing with the world the contemporary nature of Quebec's goal.
This goal of Quebec achieving nationhood is something he worked toward and something to which he was deeply attached. For him, a sovereign Quebec would be a small progressive country open to everyone, no matter where they came from, a country that would play its part on the world stage.
It is not surprising, then, that globalization and the problems that it created worried him, as did the growing gap between rich and poor. Yet he was a strong believer in closer ties with the countries of South and Central America, and he was fluent in their majority language, the language of his cherished wife, Ercilla.
Paul-André Quintin was a supporter right to the end, a staunch believer in Quebec's sovereignty.
Thank you, Paul-André.