Mr. Speaker, the big ship had left Pointe-au-Père and had just begun its long journey to Liverpool, England.
The passengers were ordinary people. Of the 1,057 passengers on board, 717 were travelling in third class. There were also 420 crew members.
Fog rose off the St. Lawrence in the middle of the night. There were two large ships: an ocean liner, the Empress of Ireland and a coal ship, the Storstad.
In fog so thick you could cut it with a knife, the two ships did all they could to try to avoid a collision, but they finally collided off the coast of Sainte-Luce.
The Storstad rammed into the Empress of Ireland's side. The captain of the coal ship reversed the engines to prevent the worst, but this manoeuvre had the opposite effect. As the Storstad reversed, water quickly poured into the breach.
The Empress of Ireland tipped onto its starboard side and sank within 14 minutes.
One hundred years ago today, off the coast of Sainte-Luce, 1,102 people lost their lives when the Empress of Ireland sank.
Today, it is with great emotion that we remember the victims of this shipwreck, as well as all those who helped and welcomed the survivors.