Madam Chair, I thank my colleague, the government House leader, for agreeing to our proposal to hold a four-hour take-note debate tonight about the importance of French in Montreal.
I want to thank the member for Honoré-Mercier for the quality of his comments. I have great respect and esteem for him. Everyone who paid attention can see that he is an inspiration to all men and women around the world who would like to live here, in Canada and in Quebec. It is possible for someone who arrived in Canada at the age of 10 or 12 and who did not know any French to eventually end up here, in the House of Commons, seated not at the right hand of the Father, but at the left hand of the Prime Minister of Canada. Let us be modest, at least.
It just so happens that the minister told us earlier today about learning the word “ici”, which is how he started to learn French. However, here in the House of Commons, he is a cabinet minister and the political lieutenant for Quebec. Like all Canadians and Quebeckers, he heard the member for Saint-Laurent question the fragility of French in Quebec in a manner that was extremely offensive. Like all Quebeckers, the political lieutenant heard his party's top official in Quebec express doubts about the fragility of French. Like all Canadians and Quebeckers, he saw two prominent Liberal Party figures back down and apologize. Like all Canadians and Quebeckers, he also saw that half an hour after leaving the Standing Committee on Official Languages, voluntarily, she says, the member for Saint-Laurent “liked” a tweet by a person who cast doubt on—