Mr. Speaker, the member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean will be leaving us in a few weeks. Bloc members will be losing not only a colleague, but also a friend. He may not look it, but Michel is a sensitive soul. We in the Bloc know this, but his opponents may not. However, they do know that he is a great parliamentarian. Despite being opponents, his colleagues in the House know him as a parliamentarian with excellent negotiating skills, a man who knew how to compromise, but who never compromised his ideals.
The member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean is a true teacher. Before entering politics, he was a teacher and school board director. I still call him a teacher because I have had the opportunity to work closely with him for the past 14 years.
Every sitting day, we meet early in the morning to identify the day's issues, to frame those issues and to choose the words we want to use to discuss them. Michel has the gift of explaining complex subjects in simple terms. His approach is simple: he sees things from the perspective of his fellow citizens. His guiding principle is: how can we engage their interest?
The member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean is, first and foremost, a Quebecker who stands up for the best interests of Quebec. He is a sovereignist who has fought in both Quebec's National Assembly and the House of Commons to make Quebec a country. The Bloc is sad to see him leave, knowing that he would have carried on were it not for his health problems. His adversaries may not be greatly saddened by his departure, and I can understand that, but they will remember the member for Roberval—Lac-Saint-Jean as a tough but respectful opponent.
We would like to wish him good luck with his new career, and we know that he will be just as successful in the communications field as he has been in education and politics.
Good luck, Michel, and thank you for your years of dedication to the cause.