Mr. Speaker, on May 22, during the Souper des Patriotes, Jacques Parizeau was awarded the Louis Joseph Papineau prize, which honours a member of Quebec's National Assembly for political action in support of Quebec sovereignty.
Former Quebec premier and a minister many times over, he helped create the quiet revolution and modern-day Quebec. A learned man, he dedicated his talent to one single passion: Quebec.
With uncommon determination and intelligence, he has worked tirelessly to this day to give Quebeckers the only tool that will enable them to express themselves and reach their full potential as a people: national independence.
He constantly reminded us that we must not merely repeat the message, we must renew it. He once said that we should re-examine every premise of the argument. Some ideas will prove more useful, others must be reanalyzed, and many new ideas must be introduced to convince a changing society.
The Bloc Québécois salutes Jacques Parizeau, a great patriot and a great sovereignist.