Mr. Speaker, yesterday Quebecor awarded two prizes to Québec artists in recognition of their life's work. The Quebecor Prize went to playwright Marcel Dubé and the Quebecor Prize for Song to singer Monique Leyrac.
These two artists are giants who have had extraordinary careers, brilliantly representing and enhancing Quebec's culture and identity.
Marcel Dubé, who has written over 300 works including Zone, Au retour des oies blanches or The White Geese and Les Beaux Dimanches or O Day of Rest and Gladness!, skilfully depicts Quebec during the Quiet Revolution in his poignant plays.
Monique Leyrac, whose voice can only be compared to Gréco or Piaf, is one of the greatest interpreters of Vigneault, Leclerc and Plamondon. She was one of the first to sing about Quebec as a nation.
The Bloc Québécois congratulates these two artists for carrying the flame and passing on Quebec's culture. They are symbols of its prolific, prolix and pertinent identity, so fragile and yet such a survivor.