Mr. Speaker, the seventh Soirée des Masques held last evening in Montreal was an opportunity to see and to celebrate the remarkable talent of our hardworking artists.
I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to draw particular attention to some of the awards which are evidence of the diversity of theatrical production. The great man of Canadian theatre, Robert Lepage, earned the masks for best original script, best staging, best Quebec production and best set design for his play Face cachée de la lune ; the théâtre du Nouvel-Ontario was awarded the mask for the best franco-Canadian production for Du pépin à la fissure ; best English-language production was awarded to the Centaur Theatre Company for The Beauty Queen of Leenane . and best female performance was awarded to both Viola Léger and Linda Sorgini for their parts in Grace and Glory .
In closing, I would call upon this assembly to join with me in thanking all of the award winners at the Soirée des Masques for their essential contribution to the development of the arts in Canada, to the links that unite our communities, and to cultural diversity.