Mr. Speaker, today I would like to congratulate a man from my region, Hugo Valiquette, who is Lanaudière's first ambassador of the francophonie in the Americas. With over 12 years of community involvement, Mr. Valiquette was selected during the first forum organized by the Centre de la francophonie des Amériques in Quebec City last June.
The Quebec nation is the cradle of francophonie in North America, so the new ambassador's role will be extremely important, as his job is to promote the French language across the continent. In North America, Quebec is leading the charge to protect and promote our language, and we are delighted with the appointment of this Quebecker. This sends a strong signal about the vitality of our nation and our language.
Once again, I would like to express how proud I am to represent an ambassador of the francophonie in this House. I wish him every success.