Mr. Speaker, I note with great pleasure that Jean-Baptiste Meilleur has been designated a significant national historic figure.
Jean-Baptiste Meilleur, a doctor by profession and father of ten, was the first superintendent of public instruction in Lower Canada and is seen as the main founder of Quebec's public education system. He helped found the Collège de l'Assomption in 1833 and was a member of parliament for the riding of the same name from 1834 to1838.
As I have had the privilege of teaching at Jean-Baptiste Meilleur school in Repentigny and at the Collège de l'Assomption, it is with great pride that I make this announcement, an important one for our entire community.
It is said that the institutions Jean-Baptiste Meilleur established laid the foundations for the education system that has existed in Quebec for more than a century.