Mr. Speaker, the tourism industry's 2009 Mercuriades gala was held on May 21 at the Montreal conference centre. Bleu Lavande was named SME of the year and also received an award in the SME market development category.
Perched atop Applegrove Hill in the quaint town of Fitch Bay in the southern part of my riding, the Bleu Lavande estate is the only Canadian producer of internationally certified lavender. Founded in 1999, the company has developed a new kind of expertise in Quebec over the years, an industry that would seem to be at odds with the local climate. Specialists consulted before the project got off the ground were unanimous in their opinion that it would fail miserably.
Today I would like to salute the founders, Christine Deschenes and Pierre Pellerin, and sincerely congratulate the entire Bleu Lavande team.