Mr. Speaker, it is now official: after years of debate to determine which is the longest covered bridge in Quebec, we finally have the answer. In an article in Le Droit on August 13, we learned that the winner is the magnificent Marchand bridge in Mansfield—Fort-Coulonge.
The Marchand bridge is 152.1 m long, while the Notre-Dame-des-Pins bridge in the Beauce measures 150.9 m. The bridge at Notre-Dame-des-Pins had always been considered the longest in Quebec because the old departments of colonization, and highways and transportation used a different method of calculation that did not take into account one portion of the Marchand bridge that is indeed an integral part of its structure.
The Marchand bridge, which has always been the longest and the most beautiful in the eyes of the people of Mansfield—Fort-Coulonge, is a great source of pride and a precious part of our heritage.
Who knows? Perhaps in a few years we will even find this famous bridge on a stamp from Canada Post.